Broken

Sunday's are always overwhelming days. We made our way to morning worship and the property was more than bursting at the seams. It was the largest crowd I've ever seen at our property. I spoke from an outline my associate pastor Don Hadfield preached two weeks ago at home called "Broken, but not forever". It's the second best thing to actually having him here on the ground with me! It was a moving moment as we reflected together with the people on the impact of Hurricane Matthew and the destruction left in it's wake. We shared the promise we have that soon all will be replaced and recovered. In two days I'm going to step into a pressured shower with hot water, I'm going to slip between soft clean sheets, I'm going to breathe deeply of clean, crisp air. All things these dear people are deprived of, and most for their lifetimes. Scripture says to not be weary in well doing but we do get weary physically in the course of the days here. You might say then maybe then we are doing too much. But when your here, it never feels that way. This afternoon we did the school meeting to have our kids write their 'Thank you' notes and take their photographs. There were at least 50 kids in the mix we had to sort out who came 'hoping desperately' to get sponsored for school. One child made up his own 'Thank you' from a piece of paper he found and tried to turn it in hoping to get on the list. Another mom somehow got two of the 'Thank you' cards and filled them out trying to get her two young children into school. Robinson saw her and called her out with her two kids, she circled around to Beth with her kids in tow, and the little boy was having all he could do to refrain from crying, tears setting in his eyes. We have 108 kids in school now thanks to the outpouring of support from our community in the United States, but it's a killer here turning these poor families away. Everywhere I look in Haiti my eyes fall upon something broken, something unfinished, something rotting, something in pain. My heart groans within me, but a greater hope than the groaning still floods my being, this light that seeks to dispel the darkness, and that is what brings us back here. This trip unlike many before was filled with affirming moments of light advancing upon darkness. On the return trip from church we did set a new record for the Toyota, we have a unique rack on the back that we use to transport extra people, team members love riding back there for the open air perspective and immersive experience it provides. We had 17 Americans and Haitians on the rack and 10 in the cab, 27 humans on a Toyota Land Rover. The joy of the experiences here far outweighs any of the travail. I remain proud of this team, we have grown together over the last week, and we have one day to cover the last of our endeavors for this trip. It's been a packed day and we start early tomorrow with a quick mountain trek, so we will sign off for tonight. Blessing again from St. Marc.