St. John's Mission Trip to Haiti: R & R

Our day started with attending church at Port-au-Prince Fellowship, the church Rob and Trish (field directors) attend. If you think we stand a lot at St. John's Lutheran, we spent the first 40 minutes standing and singing praises to the Lord. We were lead by a Haitian praise band which included seven band members. Unlike Haitian churches we've attended, this service was kept to the standards of what we're used to at St. John's. The sermon really drew an insightful lesson comparing the physical heart to the spiritual heart. One little thing goes wrong in either and complications arise. The three things that we can do to battle spiritual disease is first, see ourselves how God sees us. Two, be sensitive to the Spirit's influence. And finally, stay in touch with the Holy Spirit. As always, our church experience was spiritually uplifting and we really enjoyed the praise music.

As is the tradition for all servant teams, we went out for lunch, this time to a restaurant called La Fouchet. Its menu rivaled the Cheesecake Factory's and the tv was showing American football! This is where a lot of UN, USAid, and state department folks stay. The food and service were excellent, but true to form, it took awhile to get our food. Following lunch, we stopped at Giant Food, which is another tradition. We bought coffee, vanilla, plantain chips, and other Haitian goodies. Dave treated us to ice cream which was delicious on a hot day!

After some time to relax this afternoon, we enjoyed a delicious taco dinner. The clean-up team serenaded us with songs from the Sound of Music. The new Jim is no longer a rookie. He has volunteered to serve as the lead for the staining team and lead devotions tomorrow night.

While today was a rest and relaxation day, the next five days are packed with work! Tomorrow we will go to Village of Hope school where we will paint, stain, and build.