This morning I got up on my own, without threats of tickling..lol. We knew it would be 8:00 before breakfast was ready so I got to sleep a little bit more:). Today, Candice and I will be helping our optometrist, Ron. He is hosting an eye glasses clinic at Faith Lutheran Church. Later, Candice and I would begin our first day of vacation bible school. For breakfast we had spam, tomatoes, bananas, toast with peanut butter or butter. ( I passed on the spam :/) Once our tummies were full and we had plenty of water we headed out.
Our team began work doing several things. Ann and Janice began a three day women's bible study, Pastor Dan began his seminar for other pastors, Herb, Paul, and Craig would begin taking a look at the construction needs and concrete evaluations ( I think...) We loaded up and went to Faith Lutheran Church. Ron, Candice, and I were lead to the backside of the church. He needed a semi-dark room to conduct his evaluations, the eye glasses were already sorted in bags. Candice set up the table and we got to work. There was a line forming already while we got set up. The translators assisted us by translating and ushering patients where they needed to go and who was next. Ron did his assessment and I wrote down whatever he told me to. Some needed basic reading glasses which he supplied, some needed stronger prescriptions that we couldn't help with. Several of the older ones had cataracts and a couple were just blind. There are always people just wanting whatever could be handed out. For them, they received sunglasses. Over the next few days, Ron and his assistants would see hundreds of people. This clinic was a huge success. God has blessed this community with this service and I know he has blessed Ron as well for sharing his expertise and generosity. Like most of the activities, when it is time to go, it is time to go quickly.
By lunch we were all hungry and ready for a little rest. For lunch we would be eating at a restaurant. The kitchen ladies back at the guest house were preparing for a Pastors' Feast. More on that later.
Once we finished lunch we quickly went to the guest house to grab our things. Candice and I got our bags for vacation bible school. When we got to the church, the children were already waiting for us. 80 so far. We decided where we would set up. Its not a very large room so it took 2 seconds. Lophane got us started with music. He did a great job of managing a crowd of kids. He does this with his own project in Port Au Prince. We sang songs that our children sing in chapel and Sunday school. Only in Creole. We chose songs with lots of movement for fun! By the time songs were finished we had somewhere around 150 kids! We split them in two groups. The first would start a craft with Candice and the other group would have a story with me. And then they would switch. Candice directed the kids in a craft of decorating foam crosses. She had a translator to help along with Ann and Janice.
I used a story board to illustrate the story. I couldn't keep Lophane because he was needed in somewhere else. I had another translator. Very nice young man but quiet. The story time for me didn't go as well as I had planned. The kids began to get bored and distracted. Somehow though, we managed to do both groups. The craft was a huge success and we even ran out. Thankfully, we had coloring pages as a back up. But the crayons were gone. These kids don't get to have a lot for their own so anything they could take, they did. We realized we would not have enough snacks to give everyone two treats so we split them up. We had so many kids Candice had to actually open the individual packages of fruit snacks and give the remaining few a couple of pieces each. Overall, it had blessings for sure but we would definitely need to regroup for tomorrow. When Helen picked us up, she asked how it went. I was honest and said I was a little disappointed with the story telling. I can only do so much when I don't speak the language. I needed a translator that was a good story teller too. I needed Lophane and Enoch, my right hand guys. She assured me Lophane would be there the next day. I was relieved. Sometimes in you can plan ministry down to the finest detail but a bump in the road can test it for sure. I was confident that even though it didn't go as well as I prayed, every child had a great time, had a great craft and treat. At the end of the day, that was all that mattered. We faithfully proclaimed the Gospel and shared it with the least of these.
Now, for the Pastors' Feast!! Pastor Dan felt it was important to gather together all the pastors and their wives for a night of great food, music, and fellowship. It was fun indeed! The same talented woman from the church on Sunday sang for us, as did another young lady. The music was wonderful!! I was eager to meet the wives. Most of them were quiet. Enoch translated for me as I got to know a few. Many had lots of children. Some sang in the choir. Some just stayed quiet. I was able to get a picture with all the wives. Pastor Dan got a picture with all of the pastors. After some encouraging words by many, we called it a night. A blessed night by all.
As always, in Christ,
Amy
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