Thursday 5 July 2012

Good Starts and Hard Finishes

Todays trip over the border into Haiti coincided with the arrival of the Haitian President in the area and much like when the Queen visits an area everybody becomes a jobsworth. So today the border guards decided that our usual free passage would now cost $40 each evrytime we crossed! Enter stage left Pastor Rolex Poisson. Not a man to be trifled with in this area if you know whats good for you. After some very cool reasoned debate, the rude and bolshy border officer melted like snow off a dyke in summer. Strike one the Pastor. onto the church and the kids. This was one of the biggest and best kids work sessions that we've had so far. We reckon there were about 140 children in the church. After some really dodgy acting from the MI story tellers and some fun songs the kids were treated to some sweets and more mayhem from the team in the form of handing out Celtic strips to the kids under the Hoops4Haiti initiative which will drive funding to the area..All i'll say is if I have to wear a Davey Cooper Rangers shirt for Haiti funding then Woodsy had to don the Hoops :-) Woodsy and myself then  headed out at the Pastor's request to meet a family in some serious difficulty. This is the tough part. When we arrived this wee family of three was cramped into what wasn't even a shack of polythene and bits of wood built around a very old bedstead. Due to illness the dad Antonio couldn't afford to pay for the rent of the ground it was on and hey were about to lose even this bit of scant protection from the elements.Thankfully the immediate danger has been averted and Antonio, Paulette and baby Routla have some cover for a while longer.Importantly we manged to pray with them our brother and sister ain Christ asking for god's protection and love upon them. I made the mistake of trying to cover the hurt in my heart for this wee family with anger and put myself on a right downer. We made our way back to pick Lisa, Jan and Anna to continue with our visits in the community.In one house alone 4 young women made it clear to the pastor that they would like to become Christians and ask the Lord into their hearts. A very special moment of singing and praying took place there and then on the doorstep which the Pastor and Church will follow up on to support the young Christians in their journey. A tropical rainstorm curtailed our visit short and we had to hightail it to the border before it closed. And hey ho, the president had left and ther was no longer a $40 requirement to cross! As I stood in the torrential rain and watched, we were excited at the sight of running torrents in the gutters and warm rain bouncing of fconcrete,yet i could not get Antonio, Paulette and baby Routla in their shack. the rain would not be exciting or fun for them.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Guys, Just to let you know we are following your blog from Burundi. Well done on all of the hard work! We are having a whale of a time here too, I personally am involved in teaching church leaders who are so hungry for God and the Mission Medics team are right up to their elbows in all sorts of stuff. Keep going - we love you all! Hugh

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