I'm Moving On

On the PGA tour, Saturday is known as moving day.  So it was with the First Pres mission team as the youth along with Forrest and a couple of other adult team members prepared to leave the main group and head over to LaGonove Island for several days.

The morning started as usual with a wonderful breakfast prepared by the school staff.  Plenty of pancakes and fresh fruit, and some very strong coffee.  The coffee was welcomed as the nights still seem to be restless ones as we deal with the heat of the night and the coming and going of electricity to power the fans in the room.

Shortly after breakfast the LaGonove team gathered their belongs to begin their journey to the island.  Claire had secured a van to take the team and their luggage to the ferry for the trip over to the island.  As we did when we flew over, the group was taking more than just their own personal items as several large suitcases were filled with numerous items needed by the families on LaGonove. This made for one loaded vehicle.

Once the van was loaded up it was time to say goodbye, for now.  This group will be returning to the school Wednesday to talk about their experience and prepare to leave Haiti on Thursday.

This group loaded onto the van and headed for the ferry that would take them to LaGonove.  This ferry looked like it would be able to transport one vehicle in addition to the passengers, but when they put a second truck on the boat it gave a new meaning to the word faith.

But the team had faith and climbed on board for the trip to the island.  The communications from the island over to the school is going to be difficult, and we are hoping we can get an email from them at least once a day with an update on their activities.  I will post their adventures here if we are lucky enough to get updates, otherwise I will get out a catch up post when they return Wednesday.

After the LaGonove team left the compound, Doug began a workshop for the English speaking teachers at the school. Each of the teachers has a responsibility to teach the bible to their students. Doug spent the day focused on the gospels of Mark and Luke. He gave an analogy for the four gospels being like the four speakers in a quadraphonic stereo system. Each speaker is providing a different piece of the music that is able to stand on its own, but only when the four speakers (gospels) are listened to at once can you get the full effect.

During the workshop one of the teachers provided the team with a very personal and deep inside the practice of voodoo. Some of the other teachers in the room also contributed to the discussion with their own experiences and insights. Roman Catholicism is the official religion of Haiti, but voodoo may be considered the country's national religion. The majority of the Haitians believe in and practice at least some aspects of voodoo, and most voodooists believe that their religion can coexist with

Catholicism

. The members of our mission team were quite moved by the discussion and the personal insight shared by these individuals. It provided a very personal insight into the Haitian culture and the people we have been working with for the past several days.

As Doug was conducting the workshop, other members of the team were assisting staff in various projects around the school.  As one can imagine there is always more things to do than there are people to do it.  The staff Sherry employs is very small, but wonderfully committed to the work here.  They do the cooking, teaching, building maintenance, just about anything that needs to be done.  Sherry gave us several projects she asked we help her get done, and we are helping make and hang curtains, make shoulder bags for the school children, rework some plumbing, and other odds and ends around the compound.

After a very busy day, the staff once again provided a wonderful and unique dinner.  The main course was goat (yes goat), accompanied by rice with black bean gravy and plenty of mango.  It was different not having the youth around.  We miss the hustle and bustle that seems to follow them around, and the children are missing the attention from them.  We are looking forward to seeing them again in a few days.

We finished the evening with a devotion up on the Starlight Palace.  A few of us stayed afterward to enjoy the breeze, unwind and wait for the heat from the day to dissipate before heading to bed.  It is quite nice sitting on the roof and listening to the sounds of the city.  There are ever changing sights, sounds and smells (some good and some not so good) that define this part of Port-au-Prince.  We are hoping for a day next week to get out away from the school to see some of the outer edges of the city.  I look forward to writing about that.

Until next time, good night from Haiti.