Emmaus Life

• Went to Pastor Jean Alix’s church service, at the end of the service he called us guys down to
  

  Jeremiah presenting the key of the new house to the new owners

  the front to pray for his people… and they flooded end…it was so moving and yes, I shed plenty of tears, plenty of them.  As a friend, brother, and pastor, watching Lamar, Nathan, and Jeremiah pray over old and young alike once again, filled my heart with joy…conclusion, we don’t pray for people enough, in and out of church

• From there we went to one of our interpreters house, Sylvester, we wanted to show the team the way the average Haitian lives.  It’s one thing when you are disconnected from the person, it’s another after spending the entire week with that person, then to see the complete poverty they live in, it is heart wrenching… the house was smaller than my living room, the walls were extremely cracked concrete, the roof was patch work tin, and the
  

  Lamar blessing and praying over the family and their new home

  heat was probably around 120 degrees… this is how my friend, my well spoken, well dressed, friend lives… on the way out of the house, I had sweat running down my head like someone had just dumped water on me…Sylvester’s mom, walked up behind me, and with her hands wiped the sweat off of my head, I was done…these impoverished people who are so other than us, who we are often scared to touch, just in case we ‘catch something’ reach up with no hesitation and compassion, and wiped my head dry with her bare hands…DONE!

• Then we went and talked with a man named Junior Bataille – this man has an amazing thought…his vision and passion for  Haiti, is my favorite – he is all about holistic development – aid, infrastructure, agriculture, reforestation, church, abolition work, healing, developing the next generation
  

  Sylvester and his family in front of their house

  of men, and healing this generation of women…walked out of there with our heads spinning…

• We finished the day with our last Haitian meal (which of course was amazing) a short devotional to remind us that where we are in the states is NOT 2^nd place to Haiti nor is the work we are doing in our country less than the work we are doing in Haiti, but it is, FOR NOW, where God has each of us, and Haiti should not make us feel guilt of where we are, but it should in fact, help inform how we live where we live now…

• Chris did an amazing job casting vision again for the poor, enslaved, and orphan, and most of us agreed that we’d be back… We then all went and packed, and went to bed about midnight, only to get up at 3:30am, head down the mountain to the airport, and head out for the longest traveling day of my life…

We are home, and it felt great to hug and hold my wife.  My kids felt more precious than ever, but Haiti still calls, so we will see her again soon…very soon…

I have one more blog I am going to write on Haiti to hopefully sum up the, “journey forward”…

Shonna and a Haitian Lemon