Wednesday, May 23, 2012- Haiti Activities and a Sad Story

Hello again,

I did hear from the team today. The last two days have been great. On Tuesday the team went up north to Perou. They visited the children in our school and then walked to Yolin and Wadners. They spent time praying for Wadner and his mother. Mike was excited to be able to baptize Wadner's mother Yolin, on this trip, it has been such a privilege to be a part of this family's life. The team also found out that on Sunday when the preaching at Poteau was cancelled because of rain, after the rain stopped some people showed up for the meeting.The group had an impromptu worship time and 2 more people gave their heart to the Lord, no preaching or altar call, just worshiping God. He is soooo good. The team  also finished the laundry room tables. The paint is now dry and they are ready to use. In the evening they had an awesome worship time, Gary and Darrell took turns playing guitar and Nathan played the accordion. I believe they were down at the church with the children worshiping.

Today Andy held his microfinance and savings & loan class again. It was a very positive meeting. There were many very interested in joining. A very simple explanation of how it works is, a group of business people or potential business people in Haiti, join together and each one contributes an agreed upon amount on a regular basis. Then one can come up with a business plan and fill out an application for a loan from what the group has saved up. The group votes on it and decides if this sounds like a viable business and if so they will loan the money to them. So in effect they kind of create their own bank and help each other get together enough capital to start up or improve their businesses. If they would like to borrow more than the group has for a larger business investment then they can submit their application and  business plan to Andy, who then can approve them for a  microloan from business men or women here in U.S. or Canada. We also believe we have enough interest now to start our market place. So we are going to start clearing the land. We are planning on turning our shipping containers into business spaces to start with. I believe we have 7 or 8 containers now. The plan is to divide them into two or three shops each. The team also went to Emory's today to feed the poor, this is a highlight for some team members on the trip, but can also be difficult to see such extreme poverty. Later on this afternoon Darrell and Gary took turns playing the guitar and taught some of the children how to play musical chairs. Mike said the children really enjoyed the game and squeals of laughter could be heard from the room. Tonight the children also went to bible study. Nathan teaches them on Wednesdays.

Mike shared a sad story with me today. Some of you may remember a fancy house for Haiti high up on the hill after you leave Goniaves and are headed to Marose on the dirt road. A witch doctor and his wife lived there. Nathan was driving by and saw him walking on the road. They know each other and what each other believes because they are both in the same community. Nathan felt like he was suppose to stop and talk to him. So he pulled over and greeted him. Then Nathan asked him if he knew Jesus? The man answered "not now Pastor Nathan." Nathan said do you know Jesus? The witch doctor answered "later Pastor Nathan, later". The next day the witch doctor and his wife were killed in a traffic accident. It sounds like God was giving him one last chance to acknowledge Jesus as his Lord and Savior. It reminds me how important it is to keep praying for the witch doctor in Pass Rien, that she will give her heart to Jesus and will stop telling Nathan, "not now Nathan." Please keep praying for her and others, who do not yet have a personal relationship with Jesus.

Tomorrow the team will travel south to Bercy, please pray for safe travel. Also please be praying for the team and especially Steph, as they say good bye to the children tomorrow. They will have lunch at Nathan's, Mike says Madame Nathan has the best restaurant in Haiti (she is a really good cook). They will also be meeting up with a pastor from South Carolina, who is planning on being part of our pastors conference in November. Thank you for praying.

Blessings,

Chris