On our second day in Haiti we finally made it into Anse-a-pitre. It was a great adventure across the border. Kara was able to get across the border all by herself, but the rest of us got sent into the immigration station. From there we needed to get stamps in our passports to leave the country. Devie was able to speak great Spanish, explain the situation and move get us through. From there we crossed the bridge and were off to Galilee Church.
At church we were quite early and attended segregated Sunday School. The segmentation was by gender and age. Thus there were about 6 different sections. Sterling and I were a little lost in the class, but everyone around us was quite friendly. Throughout the class we were memorizing passages that would be used throughout the service. After about an hour we started the service.
The service was an amazing experience starting with familiar hymns such as Blessed Assurance. It is quite an experience to experience how emphatically the congregation sings each songs. After a few songs from both a male and female worship leaders, a special song was sung for us as visitors to their congregation. It was great to experience such a similar strong christen experience through a completely different culture. The flow of the service was very familiar to all of us. The service continued for over three hours, but it really didn’t seem that long as a parishioner. To me there is no question that God was present at that service.
At the church there were no hymnals or other resources for us to use, but all the parishioners provided us with everything we needed throughout the service. The sermon was based around Matthew 11, and was a discussion John the Baptist’s Disciples. In addition, there was a reading from Isaiah describing how God would provide for all even if they are impoverished.
After church, we visited Sadhana Forest. This was our first trip to the grounds that we will be working at all week. On the grounds there are numerous building including a kitchen, common room, sleeping area, and water/tool shed. We were all exposed to the specifics of living in a bio-dynamic society, and everyone at the Forest. The amazing of uses of the natural resources just shows what some ingenuity and education can provide even in the roughest of areas. Next to the Forest are also the orphanage and school that we are working at all week, but we have yet to actually visit inside. We all ate lunch at the forest in a great meal cooked by Kara, Pamala, and Sterling(Sting). (In Creole, there is no concept of an r in the language. Therefore Kara is now Kala, Sterling is Sting and Barbra is Baba).
After our trip to the forest, we visited many families that Kara had visited in years past. Throughout this journey we played a few rounds of “head shoulders knees and toes” along with other familiar children’s songs. It was interesting to note that many of these families live on the gulf, and have no protection from rising tide. The friendliness of these families is of something I have never experienced, not even Southern culture.
After visiting many people, and getting some great pictures that will be uploaded later, we traveled back across the border, had some quiet time at the hotel, and then went off to dinner.
In Pedernales there was a competition between a few teams in the Dominican Republic and Haiti in running, basketball, and a few other sports. The president of the DR even visited a few days ago, but he left before we arrived. This is of great significance for the region as relationships between the DR and Haiti have not been particularly stable, and this is a great bridge building event.
At dinner, Anna provided a great meal of various fish and shellfish. Anna, was one of the people who helped Kara through many of her previous trips, and has an excellent restaurant in Pedernales. At dinner we conducted a great discussion about the day, had a small devotion, and went back home to prepare for the next exciting day.
Until later-
Jacob
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