A pleasant little trip

How was your weekend?  I spent my weekend on Lagonav and thought I would share something about my regular trips to Lagonav.  What is it that I spend my time doing as a missionary evangelist in Haiti?  Come along and see.

Seven of the churches we work with here in Haiti are on the island of Lagonav.  So it is off to the island on the ferry.  I always meet interesting people, enjoy the sunshine and the view.  This time we saw dolphins which is not unusual.  They come alongside the boat, play in the wake and then head off.  Some thunderstorms were forming over the mainland which gave a spectacular view as we came into the wharf at Ansagale.

We get lots of requests from various churches to associate with our mission - the OPC Mission to Haiti.  So I talk with folks and check things out.  In December we had a pastor come to one of our training conference looking for a mission.  It can be a challenging task trying to discern what is best.  What is motivating them to join with us?  Where are they at in terms of reformed theology.  Above is Pastor Saint Louis from the Plezans church.  Plezans means "a pleasant place" in Creole.  It was unusually cool during the service because of the high winds up in the mountains.  Very pleasant indeed.

Here is a shot of the Plezans church.  Doesn't look like much but it is functional and the folks at the church built it themselves.  No mortgage either!  Following the service and listening to Pastor Saint Louis preach it was off to our church at Bwa Pen.

One of my main tasks in Haiti, along with preaching the gospel and evangelizing is training up leaders for the churches.  One of the ways I am beginning to do that is listening to them exhort the congregations.  We have elder candidates who exhort each Lord's Day.  I get to listen and see how they are doing.  We are also encouraged to see the kids bringing their new Bibles to church.  I don't think the little brother can read, but hopefully the big sister can read it for him.  We want these children to be able to read the Word of God for themselves.

Next stop is down on the coast, so we make our way down the mountain from Bwa Pen.  It is a clear and beautiful day.  The wind is blowing moderating the temperatures nicely.  Here is a view looking toward the Gulf of Gonave and the mainland of Haiti.

Check out the slicks!  Our chauffeur always does a good job.  With a relatively light load of 5 people he goes a little quicker.  Plus it is only me and some experienced Haitians.  No one is going to complain about a few little bumps.  We eat some sugar cane in the back of the truck.  It is amazing what tires you find on Lagonav vehicles.  They are operating on a shoe string and it shows.  Lots of flats though!

Now we are on our way home.  I think Max is smiling because he knows his bed is waiting for him at the other end.  It has been a long day.  One of my regular interpreters is Max Augustin.  He is from Lagonav but now resides in Port-au-Prince.  I always have good chats with him and learn some Creole also.  We had some great conversations about Reformed theology and the differences between churches on the ferry ride over.

Sunday is over which means I try to get to bed early.  I have to rise about 4:45AM to get down to the wharf to catch the ferry.  I arrive in plenty of time and the boat leaves the dock a little early at 5:45AM.  Today we have a slight detour.  There is a sunken wooden cargo boat that has been sitting in the harbor for a few weeks.  They want to town it onto shore.  The rope gets hooked to the back of the ferry and they tow it a little distance.  Then they let go and drive it onto shore.  Off we go.  Home again by 7:30AM or so.  Mesi Bondye.