DAY 3 (January 4, 2012)

This morning we woke up, ate breakfast at the hotel, had devotions and headed out to a church in Port-au-Prince.  At the church we met with several pastors of the city to sing, pray and share with them why we were in Haiti and to tell them about the festival we will be putting on at the soccer stadium on Friday, Saturday & Sunday.  We encouraged them to invite their congregations and others they may run into.  The pastor’s eyes lit up and were excited as we sang and shared with one another.  We then prayed over the pastors and asked that the Lord would give them the strength and guidance they may need to lead others to Him.  After the pastor’s meeting we took a drive up to the top of the mountains where we came to one of the most beautiful places on earth that I have ever seen.  It was a look out spot over the city…and it was an incredible view.  It was just breathtaking and one of those things in creation that just gives you the chills when you look at it-don’t we have an amazing creator?  You could see miles and miles of the city as well as the ocean.  I can’t even explain how beautiful it was.  The pictures will help some but will never do justice.  While we were up on the mountaintop we prayed over the city and the people of Haiti and asked that God would show us what the needs of the people are as we shared His gospel this week.  After prayer we broke out in singing a couple songs as a group including the song “Come Now Is The Time To Worship”- one of which we learned part of in Creole.   As soon as we sang that song, slowly several Haitian vendors that were on the mountain top came around us and started joining in, you could see their eyes light up as they understood what we were singing.  After singing Allan Greene, one of the members from the Life Light staff asked the Haitians that were standing around what they felt was the biggest need in Haiti.  One gentleman very quickly responded that Haiti needed Jesus to come back so that Haiti would be better.  Wow what a need!  We thanked the man for sharing, spoke with some of the vendors and looked around at some of the items they were selling.  Charlie & I ended up buying a handmade wooden plaque that says “Avec Jesus Tout Va Bien” which translates to “With Jesus all things are well.”  We then headed down the mountain and drove to the Baptist Bible Mission where we had lunch.  While we were at this bible mission I was overlooking the landscape and notice the fields with crop in the distance and just had to get a few pictures to show my father-in-law as he is a farmer.  After lunch, on our way down the mountains, we swung by the stadium that we had rented out for the festival to see what it was like.  When we arrived we saw several young boys stretching and warming up to play soccer.  We walked down and watched for a little bit before we asked if we could join in.  Half of our team stayed at the stadium and played soccer with the children, and the other half went over to a radio station in town where they promoted the festival that was going to take place.  Several members of our team joined in on the Haitian/American Soccer game, and Kasondra & myself along with our parents took pictures and cheered the team as they played-I am not athletically gifted J.  The first round of kids the team played were about 18 years old or so, and we got smoked.  The second team was a little younger, and we still got smoked, and the final group of children were as young as 5 years old…we did beat this team if I remember right but for as young as they were boy were they good too.  We looked pretty bad compared to some of those 5 years olds ;)  During the soccer game Kasondra took some time to talk with Luc Junior (pastor Luc’s son) and get to know him a little more, and I also had an opportunity to meet a young man who was also watching the match.  This young man’s name is Stanley.  Stanley spoke pretty good English so we were able to communicate well.  I asked his name, how old he was and we just small talked for a bit, and before I knew it, Stanley asked if I knew and loved Jesus Christ.  Wow talk about a shock.  This almost put me in my place.  I mean I was the American coming in to share the gospel and before I even got a few sentences out this young man was asking me if I knew and loved Jesus Christ.  I told Him yes I do and I love Him very much.  Why he said?  I explained that Jesus was my Father, my Savior, and the one that I can always turn too.  We further went on to share with each other and became great friends.  After hanging out at the soccer stadium, our team headed back to the hotel, ate supper, debriefed about our day and headed to bed.