Today was our first day of missions at Barbancourt Baptist church in the village/neighborhood of Arcahaie. The term "church" is a very loose description. A partial tin roof with tarps flapping over a hodgepodge of cinder blocks and pieces of what looks like driftwood strapped together is the structure. During the week, this also serves as the school for the orphanage there too (not the same as Alex'a House) so we are meeting and teaching in another section near the sleeping quarters for the orphanage. It's also the "bathroom" for the area too - well, really anything or any place can serve as a bathroom here. It's hard to describe the smells and sounds, but if you visited or lived on a farm, that's a good starting point.
To get to the mission point, we drive about 5-7 miles back towards Port-au-Prince on the only main paved road in Haiti - National Route #1. Like almost everyone north of PAP, the village of Arcahaie is down a rocky, bumpy dirt road somewhat perpendicular to Route #1. You pass huts, shacks, partially-constructed homes and structures of pure white cement plaster often hidden behind banana trees and overhanging mango and grapefruit trees. This is a densely populated road. Motorcycles and other trucks compete for space on the cramped dirt road. We are met with stares and occasional smiles and a wave.
On the way to the mission point, we stopped for water- actually about 100 sealed squares of plastic containing clean water- everyone just bites off a corner and squirts the source of life. We also visited the local "supermarket" to buy crackers for snacks at the mission point. Lots of beer and liquor on sale with low lighting and minimal refrigeration in effect.
Saw rum spelled "rhum", egg nog and red bull too. We even found the namesake liquor of our mission point - Barbancourt is a distillery. Wow.
Day #1 was a slow start- not everyone understands or knows about Daylight Savings Time. We planned to start at 10am but the children from the orphanage swarmed us and a few adults straggled in. We finally got the children to head back to school - they were on break just as we showed up. We spoke with Pastor Louissaint and his wife and the others who lead worship there on Sunday. He was very excited and beaming happiness. We got a crowd of 10 -12 and sat under the tarp in a corridor between dorms, probably an uneven 12 feet wide by 25 feet. We started with a praise song in Creole- the Americans got excited when they got to a simple "aaa" "ahh ahh ahh" sounding section we could echo. Smiles all around.
After that song, more adults trickled in. We lead our first Bible teaching on Faith talking about John the Baptist asking from prison if Jesus was really the Messiah and Jesus answering with performing of miracles and healing. Pastor Dorcean from Alex's House served as my Creole translator and Tricia read the scripture. I think we connected!
We then formed small groups using colored pieces of paper as group identifiers. We had more adults join us by that point- I think we had at least 45 total at some point. We tried to do a name game and favor color exercise as an icebreaker, but our group struggled mightily with instructions- most likely a translation issue. But, we made it around the "circle" and then we spent about 20 minutes discussing faith and our group did open up and tell some stories about true faith and leaning on God. Good stuff.
We had a snack break of water and crackers and then another praise song lead by the deep bass voice of Pastor Dorcean.
Then, Amy and Shawna used a prop called an Evangicube with simple pictures on a cube with moving sections to teach about malaria. I personally saw sick and invalid women on cots in the village and it was so awkward talking to them about illness and treatment. Voodoo and evil spirit cleansing are still deeply engrained here. They laughed about having mosquito nets ( most likely sold on the market if ones ever show up) or having spray. It can be frustratingly slow here in Haiti.
We then changed course, set up some makeshift tables and had one of the best parts of the day- a simple craft of putting stickers on a foam cross that they could keep or give as a gift - we made a very strong point of that- don't sell it, keep it as a Bible bookmark ( not a lot of Creole Bibles) or hang on your wall.
We left the church and headed back to the Alex's House complex for lunch rest and planning. We spent the afternoon hours playing with the wonderful children at Alex's House orpahange- the highlight of the day for us. Excellent Creole food of rice and beans with an amazing red sauce for dinner.
That's a basic idea of how are 4 days of missions with flow with a rotating crew for Bible story and Health lessons. We have a different craft each day and will end the week on Thursday by paying for a large community meal with the church.
We have been joined by our new friend- Lincoln, a teenager from Tennesee, who met us in the airport on Saturday. He wants to be a nurse and a missionary and this is his 4th time to Haiti. He is also campaigning hard to be an intern here at Alex's House when he graduates high school this year. He has been a joy to be around - he loves these people and especially the kids- and he has a deep spiritual focus- especially for a man of 17 years. Thank you, God for our new friends in Haiti and around this small world. More later!
Freedom Fellowship mission team
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