Welcome, Sharptown!

After being welcomed so many times in their neck of the woods in New Jersey, we finally had a chance to welcome Sharptown Church to ours!  The group arrived safely on Saturday, made the voyage with Matt from Port-au-Prince to here and arrived in time for dinner in good shape with only one bag missing.

We introduced them to more of Haiti yesterday with a huge day!  We headed out at 8 am in a huge open-bed truck.  We drove deep into the country for about 75 minutes while the team worked on their tans, got a good coating of dust and got to see lots of the countryside.  After passing through a large riverbed, we parked the truck and made the short hike to a church in Grisonguarde.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the Palm Sunday service, Matt translated, and then after the first 90 minutes of the service, Matt began to preach while I translated.  Much to our surprise, we were joined mid-sermon by a group of Haitian friends from near our home, and they had brought some Canadian visitors with them.

So, Matt preached in Creole, friend Abed translated into English for all the visitors, and...well, I wish you could have been there.  The Lord was able to really give a special message of His love and faithfulness and of the cross through Matt, and having brothers and sisters from many tribes, tongues and nations around us while we celebrated Palm Sunday together was special, for lack of a better word.  Really special...a Palm Sunday I'll always remember.

At the end of the service, one of our Haitian friends stood and shared a special thanks for Matt and I working and living here in Haiti, talking to the congregation about his time in the States, and therefore his knowledge of what all we were giving up to be here.  He reiterated several times what a huge sacrifice we were making, thanked us and prayed for us, which was touching for sure.

However, Matt and I both had to marvel on the way home about how different our perspective is than his.  How could we possibly, singing vivacious praises to our Father in Creole with our Haitian brothers and sisters before us and our American brothers and sisters beside us, singing along in English...How could we possibly, singing vivacious praises to our Father--who has been so faithful to call us, so willing to use us, so steady to provide for us--call being a part of His plan for Haiti a sacrifice?

We stewed over this on the way home, and the ONLY "sacrifice" we were able to come up with that we have made is to be so far from family...family that can ONLY be considered as a gift from Him to start with, which we are blessed to be able to give back to Him.  And in turn, look at the family He has given us in Haiti!  Look at the family He has surrounded us with this week!  Blessed family, on TOP of our families, that we never would have had otherwise.

We just can't see any way that obeying Him is a bad idea...and surrounded by His gift on the cross, His children and His relationship, it's been hard lately to find much to complain about :)

After the service we headed for town, and after a very long and dusty trip, went for a swim at a pool in Cap-Haitien that looked like the water could give you leprosy (it was cold, though, and no one is sick this morning :), enjoyed lunch and great conversation, and finally made it back home at 5:30 last night.  A house full of laughter blessed our evening, and this morning, sounds of drills, hammers and chatter fill my office while the team is busily at work in the men's dorm.

Lily is thrilled to have a full house ("Go see all the people?!" were the first words out of her mouth this morning), and Matt and I are back in the office/classroom today working hard to fit everything in these last few weeks before school finishes May 7th!

He seems to graciously have SO MUCH in store, so much in mind for each of us, as children that He dearly loves, doesn't He?  I don't ever want to settle for anything less than His best, which might look crazy at times, or even terrible at times.  But His best, though rarely bringing fame or fortune, continues to satisfy, overjoy and amaze our hearts in ways no man-made thing or self-created plan ever could.

Please continue to pray for this group and for the men and women at EBS!