Wednesday evening...

We went to church tonight at about 6:30pm for about 1 1/2 hours. Out 2 translators gave VERY gripping testimonials. Michael and Zick (Z.I.C.K.) were both incredible in their deliveries both in English and creole. Michael spoke about Mathew 6:25-27, which spoke of "worry" and encouraged his people not to worry of such tings as food...or clothes - but instead have faith that God will provide. He gave a passionate speech about stress and worry. He explained that before the earthquake there were issues with crime and people burglarizing homes...and everyone would lock their doors. They would save for many years to buy a car or a house. Then the earthquake came and took everything away. Therefore, where did all that worry get them? In Mathew 6:27, it says: "Can all of your worries add to a single moment in your life?"

Zick gave an equally passionate testimonial about "faith". He explained to everyone the importance of faith and belief. As a demonstration, he pulled out a chair and said "this is a chair, yes?". He stood on the chair and said "I am standing on this chair and am confident that I will not fall. You know why? Because I believe this chair is sturdy. ..and that is what faith is like. How can we believe in something so simple as a chair, yet not in something so important?". They were both very spirited in their deliveries. I remember towards the end of Zick's speech, I turned to a group member, Dereck, on my left and said "this is quite possibly the BEST service that I've been apart of". There were some other speaking roles from our group and Pastor Jean-Philip - and we socialized with everyone in the church (and I mean everyone...they all immediately came over to us and I probably shook over 100 hands and heard several "God bless you"'s and received several hugs). We left for home afterwards.

...One more thing: While in church today - hearing the Haitian people sing, I closed my eyes and opened my mind to speak with God. I know this may sound like "uh-oh, Sean's drinking the kool-aide" talk. But let me first say that when I was in Eritrea in 2004, we were in a small town called Adi-Gba. I was not on a mission trip or anything of the sort (so, there was no 'kool-aide', lol) - and I was simply there with my wife, Yordanos, and visiting her family. During the quiet of night, I sat along and looked out into the unlit night sky. I felt a gravitational pull telling me that my life should be dedicated to helping God's people. I made a promise with God that night that I would fulfill this and return to Eritrea to help others in any ways possible. Well, in church today, I heard that same call. That whether it be in Haiti or Eritrea or Ethiopia or somewhere else...that I needed to stop speaking on it, and live the promise. I envisioned my children in this church playing with Haitian children and embracing with them. The church, to give you a visual, is about 25 yards long - 15 yards wide. It has a metal piping frame and squares of tarp are strewn together to cover it entirely. There is a middle isle and on both sides are rows of about 15-20 pews. I had a long talk with God and he made it clear, in my head anyway, that it was time to start taking some action. And to continue to actively pray that my family would be on board with this promise and great responsibility. I made this commitment in 2004 and I am reaffirming it in 2010. I am going to practice patience and perseverance in this journey. But I will fulfill this longstanding promise. God as my witness ;-)