We finally took a needed break and had a slow morning. We slept in except for a precious few that went out and found us some fresh pastries. Where they got these amazing breakfast treats is beyond me, but it was a special treat. The food was a cross between a buttery croissant and a lightly sugar covered dutch-letter pastry…something like I’ve only ever had in Pella, Iowa. It was good to ease into this day, because it ended up being VERY long.
A little before lunch we went up the mountain a bit and looked over PAP from a great viewpoint. There were many painters and other art/craft items for sale, and we spent about an hour making purchases and just taking it all in. I was definitely the guy most interested in doing the barter experience, so a few of the team members brought me in to haggle when they found something they wanted. I’m weird…I love the give and take of shopping like this! I’m confident that we overpaid a bit (on purpose), but not to the extent the sellers were exorbitantly going for! It was fun to me because I knew that their material costs were less than $1, the average daily wage in that area was $2, and most of the items for sale were probably only worth $2-$3 in the U.S. So when they were asking $80 for something…the haggling game was on! It got to the point where the shopkeepers would see me coming and say, “No! I’m selling to her not you!” It was thoroughly entertaining for all of us.
Later in the day we were extremely blessed to be invited to participate in an evangelistic outreach in a smaller yet fairly secure tent city. A missionary in the area had shot a French/Haitian “prodigal son” type movie before the earthquake, and was using it as an outreach tool to share the Gospel. Initially our team was able to meet with a Pastor whose congregation was building a church building right next to where the tent city was (they had started before the earthquake too), and we prayed with and for him to be able to reap much fruit and to disciple people who had been displaced to the doorstep of their church.
We then walked around and through the tent city praying with and for people for about and hour as it was getting dark, and then the movie came on. AWESOME response. People came streaming forward to give their lives to Jesus after the movie, including a bunch of children. I must have had some sort of little spirit made sign on my head that only kids could see or something, because over 15 kids came straight at and surrounded me. I sat in the dirt with them, and helped lead them in asking God personally into their hearts. I also was able to pray with a couple of men who became Christians, and even one of our translators rededicated his life to Christ. Wow…just wow. What an evening. I praise God for his goodness in allowing me to be a part.
Again…by the time we got back to our living quarters late that night we were excited, tired, and in awe of how God was using us.
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