Hours

This morning came early at 5:30am. We were in church before most of you at home were even awake! The church was overflowing when we walked through the gate. I remember spending long days on the property with lots of people coming and going and there were always times when there was no one there. I haven’t seen the church property having less than a few hundred people on it for at least 3 years now. It is staggering. I tried to take pictures during the service but they don’t do any justice to the reality of how many people are there. I have also tried to count but it seems an impossible task. They had taken a break from holding children’s church for a while but this morning we got to see a class in session and it was amazing! I took some video footage to share when I get home. The pastor who was speaking this morning spoke for 2 hours… that means we were in church for well over 4 hours! We are blessed with two wonderful translators as Claudy came to join us at our church this morning and he translated the whole 2 hour sermon for us! He is a very gifted man. Speaking of that, at 50 years old, he has started back to school to earn a degree in law. He is one of those people who will never stop learning. Back to church. Mom and I were both asked to speak… again. Thankfully, either because of sleep deprivation or God staunching my anxiety (we will go with the latter!), I wasn’t as nervous as I usually am. The people responded really well to everything we shared with them. Mom is a natural on stage, she just doesn’t know it! We were able to visit with lots more people after the service had ended. I’m surprised at moments just how vast that number of people is. God has truly blessed our efforts of outreach with these people. I don’t know what has made us so favorable to so many but I am grateful God has allowed me this place. I have so many friends here. I couldn’t even begin to name them all or how their hearts and lives bless my own. Lots of great pictures were taken with a lot of them!
    Back at the house it was a quieter day. I know from staying here for longer periods of time that Sundays are normally a rest day. When I say rest, I mean sleeping! Usually, everyone takes long naps to recharge for the week to come. All of the kids fought to stay awake so they could be with us, though we were quite tired ourselves. Only Klarissa succumbed to sleeps alluring call and didn’t wake for 4 hours! We let the kids take turns picking out movies to watch, we gave them snacks, played a few games, etc. The really exciting thing for the kids was a water balloon fight during the hotter part of the day. You have never seen kids go as wild as these while we filled 5 gallon buckets with balloons. It was boys versus girls with Mom and I both filming the whole thing. Their squeals of laughter and bright smiles were enough to warm anyones heart!
    Mom and I whipped up a pretty fantastic dinner to share with everyone out of some ramen noodles and cans of chicken from the fall trip. Every trip to Haiti I always tell myself I will never take for granted how easy it is to cook at home but I am always shocked when I come back just how difficult the simplest of tasks are. The kids were absolutely crazy over our ‘poor man’s dinner’ though, so that is all that matters to me! As they all sat there eating and I was setting up the movie outside, a sudden gust of wind took out the projector screen which thanks to his lightening fast skills, Kenley caught just before it hit the concrete. We improvised and just used the side of the house for the viewing of ‘BFG’. It was a great day. I am feeling the pressure of leaving so soon but am praying that God will help me make every moment count. Blessings from rainy St. Marc!

Krystle