“Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Genesis 28:15
Is it day number two already?! And what better day for it to be than Sunday at church? Zoranje style!
It was a quick 1.5 hours in the land cruisers up through the mountains. We arrived to the church grounds, welcomed by the beautiful sound of Zoranje at worship as they finished up Sunday school.
The Twelve got a quick tour of the property and got introduced to Pastor Franz. Just the smile on his face expressed all we needed to know. He was so happy that we had come to worship with him and his church family.
So often pastors here in Haiti see a mission team in for a week never to see them again. But holding on to what God promises, we were back with our Zoranje church family! All the glory to God!
“Oh what a wonderful Savior… who comes to save… and set free…”
The church belted out in unison their praise, ringing throughout the entire village. Hundreds of yards down the road you could easily make out the sound of people worshiping the one true God! We are all thankful for the Living Water that allowed Himself to be poured out for us!
God had an extra blessing in store for us. It was Communion Sunday! What an emotional experience to break bread as we remembered what Christ had done for each of us. Pastor Franz prayed for peace, provision and thanksgiving. All the glory to God!
Pastor Jim Wiley from Brookfield First Assembly brought a word of greeting from our team. And guess who his interpreter was? Another blessing for us! Traveling nearly two hours to be in church with us today, Stephan stood at the pulpit next to Pastor Jim. The last time the team was here was the first time he prayed for an American team in public. And today he translated for a greeting. Next time he might just preach! God has done such a miracle of grace in his life! All the glory to God!
God continued to pour His blessing upon the church. During the offering, we were especially humbled to see their sacrifice as they gave. The spontaneous eruption of praise for our Provider intertwined the passing of the offering plate. These people were giving a portion of their hard-earned income to bless the growth of the Kingdom.
And God’s blessing proved to be relentless. But this time to His good and faithful servants! Richard and his wife Kelly were beaming, shuffled amongst four of the young men that they “adopted” five years ago. Singing and praising God alongside their families, they lifted their hearts and hands in worship! Richard and Kelly’s daily investment in these young men has resulted in each of them and their families coming into a relationship with Christ! That is straight up missions work… work that any and all us can do!
Can we all just stop for a moment and think about how great is our God?! It did not matter that we were sitting on top of hard wooden benches and work toolboxes. It was an honor and privilege to be in church today.
Filled with a spiritual high no one could bring down, we headed out to lunch. And not just any lunch. An authentic, no-holding-back Haitian lunch. Fried plantains. Fried chicken. Pasta salad. And what’s better than this… glass bottle Cokes!
The rest of the afternoon we relished the rest of the time we had here as “tourists” before we put on our work gloves tomorrow. Richard brought us to the “metal village” with about 70 houses filled with metal artists. We strolled through the village, walking in unison with the rhythmic beat ensemble of ball-pen hammers tapping on 55-gallon steel drum lids. It was enchanting!
Karin brought home the award for the Top Souvenir Buyer as she pretty much knocked out her Christmas presents list! She is definitely tapped out of buying gifts for the rest of the trip…
The night continued to envelop itself on the patio in an atmosphere of fellowship, laughter and feasting on a delicious Haitian dinner our house workers cooked for us.
After FaceTiming with our loved ones back home, we all hit the sack pretty early, as tomorrow we start our first workday back at the Zoranje church to work on the roof, the water baptismal and some iron windows. But this time instead of keyboards and drums, we will create our own music to worship to God with our hammers and shovels.
Please continue to pray for The Twelve, Team Haiti, Richard and Kelly, the Zoranje church and the surrounding village.
All the glory to God!
OPERATION HOPE - Haiti 