A Fairly Typical Sunday

Today is the Lord's Day so it is a day unlike all the others.  This week has certainly seen six days of work.  The construction team has been very industrious and much was accomplished.  So they were ready for a very deserved day of rest.  And it turned out to be a great time of worship, relaxation and fellowship.

Normally our family is at the Port-au-Prince church plant twice every month.  Ben typically teaches Sunday School and preaches the sermon to give Pastor Octavius a little bit of a break.  While we normally drive our Nissan Patrol down loaded with kids and our missionary associate Marcie Winslow, today we had more people than we could handle.

Enter Nader Elioner and his bus service.  Heather and I first met Nader on our very first trip to Haiti in November of 2006.  He was a Haitian friend of Eric Hausler who drove people around in a dark colored Chevy Suburban.  It was a wild introduction to Haitian driving.  On the road, on the shoulder, against traffic.  And Nader has turned into an invaluable resource when we need to get larger groups of people to/from the airport as well as to church.

After our breakfast of oatmeal everyone got dressed and ready to depart for church at 8AM.  Nader's brother Johnson had been waiting since 7:30 and was ready to go.  One of the things we appreciate is the bus is always on time.  We roared off and made our way south to Port-au-Prince on Route Nationale #1.  The highway is smooth and well marked.  Unfortunately it does not reach all the way to Port but stops inexplicably about 3 miles before the turnoff into town.  From there is is rough patches, potholes and speed bumps.  You have to go a little slower.  We arrive safely at L'Eglise Presbyterienne Reformee de Delmas right at 9AM.

This morning Sunday School was on John 1, with Ben teaching and Octavius interpreting.  It is a wonderful expression of the international nature of the body of Christ to have both Creole and English speakers learning together.  Worship began just after 10AM.  Songs are sung in French and Creole.  Many prayers are offered and tithes given.  Ben preached from Matthew 1:1-17, again with Pastor Octavius interpreting.  It is great to have such a competent brother who you can rely on to communicate the truths to the Haitian believers gathered together.

After the service the bus arrived and took us home again.  The trip is only about 50 minutes.  We had time to enjoy a lunch of mac'n'cheese and spend the afternoon resting and reading.  Some of the team went down to the pool for a late afternoon dip.  Overall a wonderful day of rest.  Now we are all ready for the coming week.