Singing on the Mountaintop!

It has been quite a weekend.... I feel like I almost need another weekend to recover before jumping into the school week tomorrow, but I am trusting that the Lord will give me the strength I need. I just wanted to take a moment to share with you about my day yesterday. I had the opportunity to travel with Don, which is another guy who works at the mission. He is mostly involved in village outreach and church programs, and he has a regular route that he always makes on Saturday's to do children's programs and speak to families. He has offered for me to come along anytime, so yesterday was my day!

At 8:30 I jumped into the open cab of his pickup truck with the 3 other interns that are here from the United States. Before venturing too far, we proceeded to pick up about 5 other Haitian translators who came along to assist us with outreach ministry. 

Our first stop was in Cabaret where we drove down one of the side streets and immediately children who recognized Don's truck began to chase after us smiling and laughing until we stopped at a clearing in a small neighbourhood. There we sang songs and played games, followed by a prayer and memory verse challenge, and of course we didn't leave until we passed out candy. 

We stayed for about an hour in each village beginning with Cabaret, then Ti-Plasce, and finally my favourite spot of the day - Sophie, where we did our programs right by a freshwater stream. In order to get there we had to drive up the mountain which was quite an adventure in the back of the pickup. Of course, I could have chosen to ride in the truck on an actual seat, but it made the experience much more memorable, especially when it came to eating lunch on the go (see picture). 

As we entered each small village, about 50-100 people showed up.... All the way from babies to elderly people. We ran a similar program at each site, which also included me having a dance off with one of the kids... Since I'm still lacking in my creole, Don thought it would be funny to involve me this way... of course failed miserably! These Haitians really know how to 'bust a move'! :)

But driving in the pickup was definitely a delightfully-risky memory I will always carry. At one point, one of the translators began to sing a worship song from church and we all joined in singing at the top of our lungs. As I braced myself onto the side of the bedliner and we bumped along upwards toward the village of Sophie, I looked across the land of Haiti and listened to the voices of the guys singing next to me. It is truly a moment I will never forget because at that moment I felt so close to Jesus and so alive. I've had 'defining' moments in the past where the Lord has really spoken to my heart, and this was another one of those times. Despite the simplicity of that moment, it was truly invigorating and it just made me feel so blessed. I felt amazed once again to be living this dream and so thankful for the opportunity to be in this place! Sometimes it's easy for me to dwell in the disappointments, but once again, singing on the mountaintop, the Lord sang over me and spoke peace and love into my heart. It was probably one of the best days I've had in Haiti yet.

Well, I think that's all from me tonight.... All of this action has really tired me out, and I've got a big week ahead of me, so I think I'm going to call it a night. 

Sweet dreams!