Haiti day 6 by Melanie Kirchner

Today turned out to be super eventful, but also very crazy. We started out waking up for church at 8. When we arrived at church there were more people at the service then there were on Wednesday. Also when we arrived there was another bus of Americans, which was super shocking to us. They came from Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, and North Carolina. The pews were packed and many people were dressed in their finest! The worship was completely amazing, and even though I did not know what they were singing because of their language, God was definitely in the church. I thought it was awesome that I had the experience to witness another culture worshipping God. The people in Haiti have a true heart for the Lord and have an honest joyfullness for the Lord. John Hink preached from John 5 and discussed the aspect of legalism and wanting to get better. We have heard the sermon before, but it was a new experience hearing it and seeing the reaction of the church. We have also had to share our house with missionaries from the Dominican Republic who shared some of their stories today as well. One of the ladies only spoke Spanish and the translator translated in French, so we had to wear a personal PA system with someone translating in English. All of the languages made it very confusing, but it also showed how many cultures all have the same belief. A Domincan Rebpulic man also talked about miracles that he had witness and encountered. He stressed on the idea that the truth would set you free. All in all, church was very impacting. For one, the service was three hours, so three hot, sweaty hours with the Lord creates a whole new bonding, but also having the collision of different cultures emphasized the power of our God. A three hour church service was very new to us; it was also extremely hot and we could barely understand our translator. After church, we said our final goodbyes to the orphans at Source de la Grace and ate lunch that consisted of chicken, rice, maccaroni, and coleslaw. After our goodbyes we all piled into the van and headed on a road trip to the countryside. The countryside was up in the mountains and very beautiful, but also much much cooler. We could even turn off our AC and not die of a heat stroke. The road was very windy but also very green and tropical. When we reached the town at the top of the mountain we got out and saw the jaw-dropping view. You could see all of Haiti, including the beach/ocean, town, and more countryside. It was very different than the crowded dirty town that we were getting used to. It makes me kid of think that this is almost how God views Haiti, because when we first arrived I was overwhelmed by the poverty, but now I can see the beauty and begin to love the culture more and more. You can start to see the beauty under the rubble and see the joy and presence of God in this country. Seeing the country from above really makes you see the bigger picture and develop a sense of peace. However, the peace quickly vanquished when a truck clipped the side of one of our rental cars. We had to stop and make sure everything was okay. There was a scratch and normally it would be okay because they drive like crazy people, but becasue it was a rental, we had to fix it. So some boys hopped into our van while our main translator Jonas and the huge men stayed behind to fix the car. We were already packed to begin with, and with three extra smelly boys, we were extra stuffed. Because the van was losing power from the steep hills, we had to turn off our AC, so everyone was hot and miserable. We were told to go to a restaurant from Jonas, but becasue Jonas was not there, we did not know where the restuarant was. After driving around for about 30 minutes everyone was hot and cranky and we decided to just travel home instead. Luckily we all love each other and tempers died down and we made it home safely. When we got home Pastor was holding a worship service at his house, but we did not participate because their was no translator. For dinner we had sandwiches, followed by Denae's devotional about coming together as a whole under the presence of God. Currently the boys are watching the spurs game and most people have headed to bed. Sorry this is so late, Liz came into our (Robin, Abbie, and I's) room to distract me from writing. All in all today was a helpful day for me. I am learning more about this culture and finally acclamating to Haiti. I am sad our trip is almost over but feel I have seen God's heart working in the depths of this country.