Dust

What a morning! We had an incredible service today. A packed out house greeted our arrival, and the experience was nothing short of amazing today. We had to be up at 5:00 am again, and boy did morning come early. I have not slept too well on this trip. It has been so hot and dry; it is hard to take. The first spotlight of the morning was the mountain man who we gave the donkey to. My heart soared as he checked out his animal for the first time this morning. We took a few photos and suddenly he climbed right up on that donkey and away they went. He is a pretty old Haitian man, and the smile on his face says it all. We are still making sure he gets a pack-saddle and rigging for the donkey. But they probably won’t get to him until we are gone. Our morning was also decorated with a bit of sadness. Ray had to head back to the states to keep a prior obligation with family. I felt bad as the emotions of the moment hit him like a tidal wave. He was okay with going, and I am sure by now he is experiencing great relief from the ravaging heat. The other picture you will observe here is what appears to be snow in Haiti. In stark contrast to the pictures in posted on the blog titled beauty, this is not snow, but dust. When Rick saw the pictures I had put up on that post, he was like, ‘oh Doyle, you shouldn’t do that, people will think we are down on some Caribbean vacation’! Well here is the reality check! It is dusty, dirty, smelly, and pretty rough on our bodies that have been dealing with extreme Michigan cold. I will confess that when I hit Miami I am relishing air conditioning. At least the thought of it! Church was two and a half hours long, but it didn’t feel that way. We were swept away with their focused intensity. Then we spoke to them about their value before God, how with God there is neither Haitian nor American; that we are all loved equally and powerfully by God, and closed with a short little excerpt about Brandon. It was received well, and we are thankful for the opportunity to share with them. It has been a eventful day at the house, games being played, Noah and Brandon are at the neighbors playing some ball. Rick in getting in some reading time. Karen and Deloris are reminiscing with their digital cameras. Photography is such a blessing. To be able to capture a moment in time and go back to it, well, it’s just short of time travel. Memory is an incredible gift and photo’s to back the memories are a gift. Whoever discovered the lens of a camera gave the world an incredible invention. We are going to show a movie tonight at the church, we are showing the ‘Secretariat’. It has to be able to play in French. I am posting early as I won’t have time tonight. For all those posting comments, they have been truly inspirational! Thank you.