Helping Hands

This past week we completed our first Vacation Bible School (VBS)  program of the year on Lagonav.  The team stayed at the guest house in Anse-a-Galets and traveled out to the churches at Bwa Pen and Gran Lagon.  They were grateful to have the opportunity to teach and love the 80 or so children who came at each church.  Though the travel was arduous and dust prevailed on the most of the days, everyone went away with a smile on their face.

Nothing we did with the team would be possible without the aid of many helpers.  I want to introduce them to you beginning with our interpreter Mikenson.  He has been helping us for several years and has often come along to help us communicate with the children.  They don't speak English but Mikenson does a good job of interpreting into Haitian Creole what we want to communicate from the Scriptures.  Mikenson also helps with the games and keeping order when the kids get noisy and rambunctious.  We are thankful for this young man who is a good example of godly character and who desires to help further the cause of Christ on Lagonav.

Another important helper that we began to use about a year ago is Hilaire.  He has been coming to our church leader training seminars for several years and works for Compassion International on their children's programs.  He has come to be our song leader during the VBS programs.  The teams learn some of the typical VBS songs like "Deep and Wide" and "Jesus Loves the Little Children", but there are plenty of other good Haitian Creole songs.  Hilaire has lots of energy that the kids catch on to.  We enjoy being able to sing praises to God as part of the program and Hilaire helps us do that.

We could not organize the program without someone like Dumerle.  Dumerle is our administrator and also helps me with much of the organization related to church visits and leader training seminars.  Dumerle comes from the community of Nan Kafe where his father was the long-time pastor of the church before his passing in 2009.  Dumerle comes along with us while doing lots in the background to get the kids to the churches.

And to arrive safely at the churches we need a reliable chauffeur.  Our driver is Ones.  This brother in the Lord takes us in his Toyota pickup over mountain and through muddy trails to the churches.  With teams of 8-10 I can't drive everyone in our Kawasaki Mule.  So Ones is hired to take us out to the churches and return to the guest house in Anse-a-Galets each day.  We are thankful for his service.  By the end of the week he is tired but besides the occasional flat tire or other small problems everything goes smoothly.  These are the helping hands that make our ministry possible.