another weekend adventure...

What a weekend! Going to church in Haiti continues to be spiritually moving, and just plain MOVING in general! This weekend, we joined another family to visit Coup-a-David again, a distant mountain church. It is the only church in it's entire vincinity, and getting to it is not easy.

The lack of vehicles on the compound put us in a huge iron blue boxy thing called a "Uni-Mog." It's the loudest truck on the compound, with two bucket seats up front, no windows and just a fabric cabin. The back of this wheezing creature is a steel cage. To add to the adventure, we threw 2 ocean kyaks in the back with us. May I say, for the record, that it is one kind of bravery to attempt going to Coup-a-David in the Uni-Mog. It is another kind of adventure to do it all in a skirt.

After climbing into this huge box using the wheel for a ladder, we were off. The kyaks quickly proved to be bent on crushing a few children, so I stood, shoving them back with my not-so-padded hip through each bump and turn. The drive is beautiful, and after about an hour, we grabbed our water, hymnals and Bibles (in Haiti, the people bring their hymnals, instead of the church providing them) and headed off, leaving our monster and kyaks sitting in the yard of a very curious family.
The hike, though difficult, is beautiful, and it is a joy to pass through many villages, many homes, many lives as you head for church.

"Going to church?" an older man called as we passed.

"Yep!" Matt said.

"Will you pray for me?" he asked.

"Absolutely, what is your name?" Matt responded.

Like this, we gathered requests and friends along the way, wading through streams, around houses, over mountains.

Outside the church, we changed our boots and sandals for church shoes and slipped in, a bit sweaty and out of breath. It was a lovely service, with some awesome singing groups. One of our students preached, but not before asking Matt to share a "small reflection" with everyone. After the service, the pastors invited us into a small room for Raisin Soda (Grape) and some crackers. We headed back, the sun burning hotly overhead. Over a month has passed since we had rain, and the fields and farms were dry, dry, dry.

When we made it back to the Uni-Mog, we found the ropes we had used to tie the kyaks had "disappeared." Quickly we all changed into our swimsuits in a sugar cane field, trying to finish as a small crowd gathered to see what the "blancs" (foreigners) were doing.

We headed then for Black Beach, so named for it's black black sands. Matt and I had never been there before, and were suprised to find it to be quite the hang-out for Haitian couples :) We took the kyaks out until we could no longer see our truck, and spent the late afternoon diving and swimming and paddling with the kids. By yesterday evening, we were exhausted, but restored, as well. Getting away from "the work," and spending the day with "the people" was wonderful, and God reminded us again by the natural beauty of the land, and the natural beauty of His children that we encountered that He indeed cares for the sparrow, for the orphan, for the widow, for the poor, and for us. (Photos: 1-a prayer hut, with a fort in the background from the 1800's, 2-a cock fighting ring, 3-Black Beach)