Church

First and foremost, Happy Father's Day, Papa! Wish I could be home with you today. Thinking of you and sending my love.

I just wanted to mention a little bit about church today. Roughly 300 people from around the area show up to NVM's Sunday services and it was exciting to find myself among them this morning. One thing I adore about these people is their expressive and enthusiastic worship. Children to elderly adults were lifting their hands and rocking the step-touches, lifting their voices with a powerful volume. We even sang "The Power of Your Love" by Darlene Zschech translated to Creole or French (not quite sure which) which was pretty wild. Jam-packed into one of the rows I was handed a sleeping baby that must have only been a few months old. He snoozed the entire two hours but I noticed a pattern of grimacing facial expressions that led me to suspect he was working hard at something...

I was really touched by the service overall, mostly by the worship. Several times I found myself fighting back tears without being sure of why. My heart, already tender towards the people of this country, is so full. There's just something so right, so heaven-like about their unanimous expression of praise. Their authenticity was so tangible in that room, more palpable than the hot, heavy air.

Another interesting aspect was the youth brigade. I'm not entirely sure what this group is beyond the fact that it's similar to Boy/Girl Scouts. It's an organized program of kids/teens here in Haiti that learn leadership skills. Dressed in crisp blue uniforms they even march and display hand signals to each other before speaking. They take church pretty seriously in that one of their roles during the sermon was actually to make their way around and tap on the shoulders of members (mostly kids) that were slouching in their seats on the verge of taking a lil snooze.

Towards the end of the service Pastor Pierre called out the names of the four newest interns and requested our presence on the stage. He introduced us and we briefly mentioned our purpose here in Haiti. To carry out a tradition here at NVM, he then asked if we'd like to sing a song for the Lord before the congregation. (Fortunately we were prepared for this ahead of time!) So the four of us belted out, "I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart" but in Creole! Which took a little practice, yes, but I think they liked it. Needless to say we were graciously welcomed by everyone.

After more worship we were eventually dismissed and everyone gushed out the door in one solid mob of bodies. I couldn't help but chuckle as little hands gently shoved me from behind as if the custom was simply to exit with the utmost urgency, like a herd of sheep. For a service lasting over two hours that suggests a no-hurry attitude, we sure got out of there fast! Hahaha, then again, maybe that was why.