Some of you may have seen the November issue of New Horizons, the denominational magazine of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC). That is the church that has called me to work in Haiti. There I am on the front cover, alongside a little man, obviously from Haiti.
The other man in the picture is Maxime (pronounced Maks-ee-may). He is one of the leaders in the church we work with in Nan Mango, a rural area on the island of Lagonav.
To get to the church you drive just over an hour north from the airport in Port-au-Prince. Then you walk down the hill to the wharf where you get a ticket for the passenger ferry. The voyage to the largest town on Lagonav of Ansagale is about 1 hour 20 minutes. Then it's time to get in the back of the pickup truck. The ride to Nan Mango is 10 miles by road, but it take 1 hour 45 minutes. Up hills, down hills, along ridges, through small villages and past cultivated fields. Then you arrive at the short path leading to the church. You have arrived at the Nan Mango church.
I traveled to Nan Mango to preach this past Sunday. We arrived just as Sunday School was beginning. The folks trickled in as one of the leaders taught a lesson on Romans 14. In many ways it would seem very similar to the Sunday School lessons you have at your church. But the big difference is the repetition of Bible verses and summary sentences so everyone can take something home. Many do not have Bibles and cannot read in any case. Memory work is a big part of church and school in Haiti.
Maxime led the worship service which included prayer, lots of singing, some special music and my sermon on Acts 2:36-41. After the service we greeted all the folks. The church is relatively small, but there are many little ones. I had some time to sit down with Maxime to talk about things in the church, various needs and how we might encourage them. He is not paid as a leader in the church so he must work to support his family along with caring for spiritual needs in the church.
Do pray for Maxime. He has been a faithful leader in the church but life is hard. He lost his 12 year old daughter earlier this year. She was sick for some time and finally succumbed to whatever it was that was ailing her. Access to medical care is difficult, and even then does not always help. I remember him visiting with me after his daughter died. It was a real struggle because my language facility is not good enough to say what I wanted to. So I just sat with him. It was a good lesson for me that while I will never completely understand the heartache, it is good to be with our brothers and sisters.
While at Nan Mango I also heard of a 7-year old boy who died at the Gran Lagon church. He attended the church as well as the school. He got sick and within 2 days he died at the Wesleyan Hospital in Ansagale. Nobody was able to help. It reminded me again of not only the fallen world we live in but that we can find hope only in one place - the presence of our heavenly Father. "But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and now to us." (2 Corinthians 4:7)
You can read the article on our spiritual blessings in New Horizons here.
No comments:
Post a Comment