sunday morning in haiti

We awoke on Sunday morning; it was beautiful, and then a rain shower came. We had breakfast as a team, with Fred, a physician from Virginia, giving a devotional. More creole spaghetti. Then we piled into trucks and and made our way to the Cap Haitien Methodist Church, near the center of the city (population 500,000). I had been invited to preach, although I would have been glad to listen and worship. I was met by Raphael Dissieu, who is the president and superintentent of the Methodist Church of Haiti. He asked me if I was a Bishop. I said no, a pastor. We talked about the service. I asked him about a couple of french pronunciations, and he asked me what I would preach about (Mark 1. 14-20). Then the service began. The sanctuary was filled with people of all ages. The service lasted one hour and a half and everyone seemed to be engaged in all of it. The service included some Methodist ministers gathered for a conference, two choirs (one older women), a baptism, a responsive reading, two offerings (one for the poor), and my sermon, translated by Rev. Dissieu. Afterwards we processed down the center aisle and we were greeted by the people. Many of them seemed to want to speak to Rev. Dissieu, and they were all very friendly. Our team was there, and it was like preaching to three distinct audiences: the church, the visiting pastors, and our team. I will post something of the sermon later.

In the afternoon, we hiked up to the Citadel, the eighth wonder of the world, and then returned to a birthday party for Bernard's sons William (ten) and Randy (3). More later.