Rookie

Lights, camera, action. We blazed through this day, another power moment of our trip. Firing from strength to strength, we accomplished so much. I always hesitate to name one team better than another, because truly every team is different, the journey in and out of Haiti is distinct to each team, that said, this team is rising to the challenge, nay, exceeding expectations. And we so needed too. Everyone has worked extraordinary hard, and it is paying huge dividends. As we close out today, the 'long night service' has commenced complete with lights, amazing sound, and a sell out crowd. When I say sell out crowd, I mean fence to fence, from side to side, from front to back, spilling into the road way, the property is absolutely packed with people. We walked from the back to the front in a moving line to get to the ariel view the guard house offers. I stood in humility as their voices lifted in song, praise and prayer. I have never had a payoff quite like the one I received tonight. I know I wrote on destiny last night, tonight I write in awe, almost a serene silence, words fail what the heart knows, sees, and feels. Yet I tap away here tonight, embracing the moment, catching the rain fall of grace cascading in a down pour that saturates and cleanses my parched and weary frame. Nothing of this countries cruelties can burglarize this incredible, luxurious moment. I certainly witnessed them today as you do every day in Haiti, but tonight, the flood of God's favor is a tide that cannot be stopped. It's as if a relief valve hit its maximum pressure and has blown, never to be reseated. What is changing here by way of grace is polarizing these people, bringing many different congregations together to spend all night praying and praising God! The carpenter side of the team fixed about eleven benches that were terribly used and broken down replacing the seats of them all, and we ordered up 8 more we had received money for. All the wood for those is purchased and cut tonight. We need about 23 more! We have so much more space! They started on 1 of 4 storage cabinets, and Rick overseeing a hard working crew of Haitian wanna-be-painters, has most of the wood already sealed. Our self acclaimed 'rookie' of the trip, Stephen, has blended it with great ease, never losing stride, offering many good gifts to the team. I'm confident now of how much we needed him on this mission. He is confident, poised, steady, funny, and smart! What more can you ask for? We wired up new lighting for the tent, and started the electrical which will be finished tomorrow. We installed an amplifier to drive two more speakers, and can almost part hair with it. We can make the sound bounce off the wall of the property across the road, which is good, because tonight the road will be full of people that did not arrive early enough get a seat inside the gate. Speaking of gates, that reminds me of another moment today at children's service, We had almost 500 kids show up, at one point the service started, Brandon and Stephen were handing out the coloring papers to the kids coming in, I walked in from a quick run, walked through the gate, realized we were about at max, and shut the gate. Stephen looking at faces still on the outside said; 'how do you do that?' I'm not sure, it's a reality of Haiti that is hard to accept, but you need to come in to get the story and the gift. When you don't, you end up shut out. But don't people everywhere struggle with this though, we struggle outside wanting our freedom, but yet desiring the gifts offered freely within the realm of grace, we need to be careful not to get shut out. Today we were not shut out, we were on the inside, we were witness to the gift, the gift of love, acceptance, and thankfulness. And so were almost 500 children, and 1000 other people meeting tonight underneath a most incredible gift, a new, spacious, bright white tent! We are beholden to so many for your gifts that made this moment possible! Time to call it a night, Rick and Karen are chatting via FaceTime with Autumn in Australia who leaves for Cambodia Sunday. Keep her in your prayers. It continues to baffle me how data advances at such a high rate of speed in a country for the most part still ages behind us in development. Rejoice and be thankful, we are blessed!