Ayiti. Sometime after Day 23 and before Day 29....part 1...

Good evening from a warm and sticky Haiti! I am sorry for the lapse in posts...last week when there was internet I couldn't post and when I could post, there was no internet. Then, last Saturday, Pastor Marky Kessa, the President of the Lutheran Church of Haiti, and his wife, Sydney, made a surprise visit to Les Cayes! They arrived just as we were starting to meet with a team that was here from Jenison, MI about construction plans in phases at Torbeck for the orphanage.
During one break in the meeting, I went into our bedroom for a moment, and there was a knock on my door. I said, "Hello?" and a strong voice said, "It is the Presidente. Are you packed and ready to go?" I opened the door and said, "Go where?" Pastor Marky said, "Jacmel. We need to spend some time with you before you leave Haiti! Besides, your husband needs to preach at my church again."
So, we packed a few things and left a bit later.
Jacmel is also on the southern coast of Haiti, probably about an hour east of Les Cayes. However, there is no road that goes even remotely that direction. So, to get to Jacmel from Les Cayes, one must drive north across the mountains to almost Port-au-Prince, then take a turn off that heads southeast, back across the mountains, to Jacmel. On a good weather day, with no mudslides or car/truck accidents on the 2 lane roads, it takes about 4 hours.
We arrived in time for dinner Saturday evening, and shortly thereafter got settled in our room for the night. The night was peaceful and uneventful.
The next morning we arrived at the church back in the woods off one of the main roads in Jacmel at about 8:10 am, and Sunday School for the adults had already begun. There is no Sunday School for the children of the church during the summertime. There were a good number of people there, and they were learning what seemed to be parts of the Small Catechism by rote memorization. Here are a couple of photos:

This is the church at the entrance...

This is a side view. The entrance is on the left of the photo, the altar at the other end.

Sunday School.

2 of 3 tents 20 feet from the church...for members that lost their homes in the earthquake.

Pastor Marky and his wife, Sydney.

Howard, their very cute 8 yr old son.

About 20 minutes before Sunday School was over, people started filing into church. And they kept coming, and coming. When I thought the church could hold no more and even the ushers were shaking their heads, more people came in and squeezed into these pews. I couldn't count how many were in church finally, as I was seated in the very back...but I'm guessing maybe 300. When I looked over my shoulder outside, there were at least another 50 to 75 people sitting on small child sized plastic chairs, (some of them broken) outside the church. The photo above was my view from the back. Note the lack of "personal church space" for these people, and it was easily in the 90's during the service.

Tom preached and Pastor Marky translated. Amazing message. They are a great team!

Two women accepted Christ during the service. Here the pastor and lay pastors are praying over them.

There is so much more to write, but I will have to save it for another time. I have been in bed all day with some sort of stomach bug, but thankfully the Cipro is helping. Hopefully we will have electricity and internet tomorrow. I have so much more to share from our time in Jacmel.....

~kimberly