Today we went to a church called Mission of Hope. I think this is about our 4th time there. Even though the service is in creole they try to put some of the words to the worship songs in English. Most of the time they play the same songs we do in our contemporary service at First Baptist. So even though we can't read creole yet we know what the words are in English. I was so worried about not being able to understand the songs or preaching that I didn't even want to go. But God is so good! I was in sort of a bad mood before we went but God turned it into a huge blessing. I don't know why I keep putting God into a box that is surrounded by me. I need to remember it is me in a small box surrounded by God.
Its a little harder to keep the kids entertained. They got new bibles for Christmas so today was a bit easier. We can see the kids starting to warm up to the Haitian kids. They don't seem to be as shy around them. Haitians have no concept of personal space. I guess I wouldn't either if I was used to having 15 people living in such a small space, the houses aren't very big, usually no bigger than 10 x 10. The kids especially love sitting next to Xander and Ellie. We'll start out the four of us standing side by side on the pew while singing then when its time to sit down a few Haitian kids have squeezed in amongst Xander and Ellie. The Haitian kids just love touching Xander and Ellie, especially their hair. Most of the time when we go to the schools the Haitian kids gather around Xander and Ellie and just hold on to them. This is going to take some getting used to by the kids. I'm sure the more they are around Haitian kids the more used to the closeness they will be.
During the church service Xander and Ellie where sharing the silly bands they got for Christmas, so we had all these kids sitting around us with silly bands on. Its great to see our kids sharing. The Haitian kids just thought that was the coolest things in the world, they were stretching them and wrapping them around their fingers. I forgot to mention we got to church at 9:30 and didn't leave our pew, no padding, until 12:30. They do a lot of worship songs and special music groups and only a little preaching. It is awesome to see hundreds of people so intent on worshiping our Lord.
Hope everyone had a blessed Christmas and remember how blessed you are in the U.S. We gave out 200 backpacks filled with toys, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, combs,and brushes to the kids at one of the schools on Wednesday. Haitians don't celebrate Christmas like we do at home, definitely no presents. So we were happy to give out these gifts and to see the smiles on the kids faces.
The past month and a half have gone by very quick. It is wonderful to see how our awesome God is using us. Us, who are we that the Lord has chosen to use us? It is such a great opportunity to know that we are doing what God wants us to do. So many people were against us coming to Haiti or at least didn't understand why we would want to go to Haiti. We feel that the Lord has blessed us so much in the U.S. that how could we not go where his will leads us. I'm sure we are much happier here in God's will than being back home not doing what God wants us to do. I encourage everyone to take a closer look at their lives. Is this really what God wants from me? Are all these material things worth my time and money? Take time to listen to what God's will is. It may not be loud, we just need to slow down and not busy ourselves so much trying to please ourselves.
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