July 9, 2007
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Haiti Update #2
Greetings from Haiti!
It’s great to be in contact with you again. From the 29th to the 6th we stayed in Guirand with Major Emmi Zimmerman. She’s a single, Swiss officer who’s lived here for 30+ years. She’s so amazing! Staying with her for a week was a blessing. The days were packed, but so great.
We started with VBS in Boco, a nice outpost in the middle of nowhere. We planned for 25-30 kids and had more than 50 on the first day! It’s so amazing how God has faithfully provided for everything…we really didn’t come with enough supplies for so many kids, but somehow we have pulled through very successfully!
So the Boco kids were great. We were only there for two days, but we felt so close to those kids. They were so joyful and full of life. We also got to drink straight out of coconuts at Boco! Having nothing else to drink, a guy climbed up a palm tree, kicked some coconuts down, and used a machete to hack a small hole in the husk. Very, very exotic.
Sunday morning at Guirand was good—we told a children’s story and I gave a testimony. Just before the evening service, we were asked to sing a duet. It was a little awkward because they announced us in Creole and because we had no translation, we just sat there. It was all right in the end, of course.
VBS in Guirand was hectic! We started with 50 kids the first day and had 70 by Friday. The only crowd control we had was the two of us and Savary, our translator. Very energetic kids! You could really tell that they needed someone to love them, so while it was demanding interacting with so many kids, we could tell that’s why we were there. Again, the Lord really provided us with strength and creative, economical ideas. We’ve gotten a LOT of mileage out of “L-O-V-E,” beach balls, and the Gospel bracelet—we even invented a matching necklace, too!
We also tried some music lessons in the evenings. It didn’t work so well without a translator! However, doing what I could makes me feel a lot more prepared the four days of music lessons that are left (and I’ll have Savary to translate for me then). Briana also taught timbrels in the evenings, which I thought was very successful. Having never held a timbrel before, I was also one of her students. She did a good job coming up with a simple drill for the beginners and a more creative, advanced one for the Fond-des-Negres group. Also among her accomplishments is translating “We Are Soldiers” into Creole! She did a great job, and we’re both excited that we’ve picked up some of the language.
Our Fourth of July was probably our busiest day yet. VBS at Guirand only lasted for an hour, then we went on to the Violette Outpost for their last day of VBS. It’s a five minute tap-tap ride (local transportation), then an hour’s walk up a mountain. A very difficult walk, yet so much fun! The day went very well and we were sad to leave the kids for the last time.
Saturday was our beach day! Swimming in the Caribbean is very, very awesome and the weather was absolutely perfect. We got to eat our rice and beans and chicken there, play in the waves, throw some frisbee (in the water, even!), and just had a great time of relaxation.
Today for church some of the VBS kids performed “L-O-V-E” and I preached. Then we had a wonderful meal at Major Emmi’s and got to meet the Divisional Commander. Our time here has been so great and we can’t believe we have only two weeks left!
Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers. They’re so valuable to us! I trust you are well and having a great summer yourself. Hope to write again soon!
Sarah (and Briana)
Haiti Interns
