rest and worship

While we were having a good weekend of community, catch-up and rest, my family back home had more of a heartbreaking one.

My grandpa is in intensive care and not doing very well, so my dad headed to Pittsburg from Columbus and my sister, Adam and Evie from Philly, only for my dad to spend the weekend terribly sick and my sister to spend the weekend seeing firsthand that my grandpa is not doing well.  

Hard.  

Would love your prayers.

Our Sabbath was beautiful.

It seems hard to believe that there are still so many churches in Northern Haiti we haven't been to when we have been to SO many.  BUT, this weekend, we had quite the adventure finding Jean Alex's church, an alumni and his son, a current first year student.  Once we did find it, we were so glad we came.

Taking the offering in Haiti usually is to worship music while everyone brings their gifts to the front...always such a great image to me of truly bringing ourselves before God and pouring out.

It was a great service and the Spirit was so present.  I don't know if Matt was born a preacher or how that works, but the Lord sure has given and developed in him a gift to share His Word...and I love being a part of it.  GREAT time with the Lord and with the Heckman side of our family, Uncle Don, Bubba and Erin.

This woman, 98 years old, was so excited to speak with Matt for a bit afterward...but with no teeth, was SO hard to understand.  Matt and Lily sure were trying :)

This is my favorite store in Cap-Haitien, where you can get, well, all that stuff.  I love the original brick.

Already in town, we stopped at the Mont Jolie for lunch, and it was such a fun time NOT cooking, NOT cleaning up, and for a few fresh minutes, NOT sweating.  

As dorky as they guys are, inventing games, splashes and super powers...they sure do make us laugh.  It was a joy to laugh till our faces hurt.

And you know our girlies swam 'till their eyes were red.

We all had a new family who just moved to Haiti with OMS over for dinner, and very thankful for these times of rest, worship and community, we head into the new week...  giving Him our worship, our work and our worries.