Sunday in Haiti!

This place is amazing.  When you first get here everyone seems rude and pushy almost judgmental by the way they look at you.  Kind of freaked me out a little when we stepped out of airport and found ourselves in front around one hundred people behind gates staring at us like cattle.  It was unnerving.  You could feel the hesitation from our group because none of us knew what to do. Thankfully Mrs. Funk (Crystal that is; I’ve always called her Mrs. Funk and she said I don’t have to stop.) called my name and we all walked as a group to her. Her first full phrase to us was “this is James, one our translators, follow him to the bus and stay to the side of the street. The vehicles will not stop for you and will most likely run you over.” Those words were not very comforting to the way we already felt. The fact that people wouldn’t stop for you and most likely run you over made the Haitian people sound rude and uncaring. As we drove through Port Au Prince we learned aren’t many rules for traffic. You drive, you pass when you can and honk your horn when you need to turn or make some other maneuver.  It was awesome! We need those rules in America. Anyways, we made to base safely and went through basic rules and layout of the house, we settled in and very soon ate some of the most amazing food we have ever had. It was so good! Our cooks are amazing! After dinner we had our first ministryish kind of thing. We took the bus half way up one of the coolest ever! And then hiked up the mountain to a church whose walls had collapsed in the earthquake but the pillars still stood. The view was so beautiful.  It was amazing. We could see the whole city and the amazingly blue sea at the bottom of the mountain and feel the breeze that always blows 24hrs. a day here in Haiti.  We were at the church to pray over the city and connect with some of the locals there simply by talking with them.  We did just that. And as we did we learned that the people we thought were hostile and judging were not. They return smiles and waves instantly.  They love talking with you, they love asking questions because many speak English and many teach each other English.  There were three brothers whose older brother had learned English and had taught his other brothers English as well and their grammar and pronunciation was better than most Americans who went through twelve years of English classes.  Even more so the children here are amazing. They will walk up to and ask you questions, say things in Creole you will not be able to understand and they always always smile and wave. They love smiles. They’re amazing people and I find them more pleasant than most Americans back home. So I was supposed to write about our church service this  morning and that was all Saturday… oops. Oh well, moving on to what I was told to do. We got to church in the middle of worship and it was hot and humid but everyone already there didn’t care. They were dancing and singing and having a great time.  The church itself was awesome because it was an open air church and so you would get this breeze as you sat or stood there.  We made a VBS promotion by explaining what we were doing and when. Then we sang “All Around the World” it was so fun because no one knew the words but they enjoyed our horrible harmony and crazy motions.  Pastor Robbie actually told us he enjoyed watching us dance like children. The service was three hours long but it was one of the coolest things I ever experienced and wish I could do it again.  I’m sure the rest of the team feels the same.  We got back to base and had lunch and have been spending time fellowshipping and napping and planning for VBS. Currently we’re just hanging out and waiting on dinner, the streets were quiet until a moment ago when Germany scored. You could hear the screaming from our neighbors and the rest of the street.  We’ve been told the streets will fill with screaming people if Argentina scores. It should be epic.  This room is hot because there is no breeze (yes I did just say breeze and not AC) so I will sign off and leave you with this one reassurance.  If you’re worrying about anything, stop. God’s presence is so strong.  Everything is going so smoothly; no one is sick, no one is injured nothing has gone wrong.  The airport went so smoothly it was awesome. We are in God’s hands and He is here with us. Your prayers are still needed but your worries are not. Never stop praying, please.
Rylan