Enemy attacks, home invasion, and church under a tree

I didn't get to post anything yesterday, so we have two days to catch up on....here we go!

Tuesday, July 9

After breakfast we headed back to Sherrie's for day two of pastor's training, algebra, sewing, and crafts with the kids. Not long after we arrived at Sherrie's I headed out for a meeting about the women's ministry. What I will say is that while Monday was a spiritual high in stepping out in faith to sign the contract on the house, Tuesday was spent facing numerous spiritual attacks that were certainly challenging, and were all about the things that God had blessed the day before. I quickly caught a glimpse of what it is going to be like to fight a consistent spiritual battle over this ministry. I know God has some amazing things planned, and I know I am going to have my faith tested in a number of ways. My prayer is that He will help me stay the course on the path He is laying out before me. That even when things get difficult, I will see His face in the hardship and praise Him for the blessings in the opportunity to serve Him.

Just after 1 pm we headed back to the guest house to straighten up our room. The seven females on our team are all in the same room together in the guest house, with one bathroom. Well, yesterday evening 13 more females showed up here for one night and descended on our room. So we had 20 females in one room, with one bathroom. Sleep was difficult last night as we were exhausted and ready for bed by 10 pm, but the new folks were running around talking, going through their bags, and still had the lights on in the room until at least midnight. Getting ready this morning was quite interesting. That team has now moved on to another location in Haiti, so it is back to being just our team here at the guest house.

After we packed up and prepared the room, most of us headed back to Sherrie's. I was going back to work on some more things related to the house and the ministry. The others were going to walk with David and his group down to the ravine to go to church at the new "Happy Tree Church", which is a church that was started a few weeks ago under a tree, out in the open down in the ravine. Haitians take worship seriously and in church services you see people dressed in their best clothing. Too often those who do not own nice clothes do not go to church. The Happy Tree Church was started so that everyone could come and worship. What a great example of taking the gospel to where the people are. Keith said the experience was unbelievable, that it was as close as a person could get to experiencing what it must have been like to be at the sermon on the mount during Jesus' time. People were peering out of windows and doorways, many making their way down to the tree in response to the music and the message. What a great example of what God's church is supposed to be.

The rest of the team went back to Black Mountain for service in the evening. While I was at Sherrie's I typed up the final, formal contract on the house so that it could be signed Wednesday morning. We also figured out the layout of how to turn the balcony into a temporary OB\GYN clinic for Wednesday. The doctor arrived in the evening so that we could meet him and he could look at the space and discuss what the plan was for the next morning.

Wednesday, July 10

This morning we headed back to Sherrie's early and immediately went to work. Everyone went off to their usual rooms and we began setting up the medical clinic with medicines and supplies. The clinic went great. We saw 55 women and at least 20 children between 8 am and 1:30 pm. This was an amazing experience and we learned so much about how to make this a stronger clinic and a bigger opportunity for women here in Haiti. Every woman here deserves access to quality healthcare. For so many of these women, they had never seen a doctor that could focus on their female needs and issues. One lady found out she was pregnant today, and several others who knew they were pregnant came in and were able to receive prenatal vitamins and other medicines they needed. Three ladies will be referred on to further medical care due to more significant issues that need attention. The opportunity to do this clinic today was such a blessing. Soon we will be able to serve women in the house! I see a full women's clinic in the future with ultrasound machines, real examination tables, medicines, and an opportunity to provide these women with dignity and respect in becoming and staying healthy.

We had quite a bit of rain today and a lot of wind. It is much cooler tonight, which feels wonderful. We were supposed to have gone to two different churches this evening - a couple of us were going to Pastor CJ's church to talk with some women and the rest were going to Black Mountain. However, both services were cancelled due to the weather. Rain and storms make transportation challenging here. So, we got back to the guest house around 2:30 and we have just hung out here all evening, which has been nice. There has been lots of singing, with our group and the Haitian family here all singing together. Abby and Natalie had their hair done (corn-rolls) by Mirline (pastor CJ's wife). Apparently she pulls pretty hard when braiding :).  We had dinner and devotional time, and now everyone is in the bed ready for some sleep.

Tomorrow will be an all-day medical clinic (depending on the weather), a music session with worship leaders and musicians. Me, I will be back at Sherrie's working on the plans for the house and picking her brain a little about things to do to get certain parts of the ministry established.

Good night from Haiti,

Patricia