"Paske, Bondye sitelman renmen lezom li bay sel Pitit li a pou yo..." That's the beginning of John 3:16 in Haitian Creole, which has been our theme verse this week, even moreso than we thought it would be! We can't seem to move away from it - the Lord is putting on our hearts the salvation of the children and the community of St. Louis du Sud. Yes, we want to be Jesus to them in any way we can, but we are also praying that they would know Him personally and that we would spend eternity with each of them! We have the Jesus Film in Haitian Creole and are praying about whether to show the adult 2 hr. version on Saturday afternoon or the children's 1 hr. version which the team showed in October as well. Tomorrow we will be handing out flyers and inviting people to come to the church Saturday afternoon at 2:00 - please pray for the Holy Spirit's directon.
This afternoon Samuel, our main interpreter (who also did the October trip - you would love this young brother in Christ!), helped the kids memorize John 3:16 (which they do very quickly), then shared his own story with them. He was taken as an orphan, along with his sisters, as a 2 yr. old after his mother died. He was in the same Haitian orphanage 11 years, taught to love Jesus by a godly woman from the States who he calls Mama. As he shared in his warm animated way, all 95 kids were completely quiet, and you could sense the Lord speaking to them as they listened to someone who knew better than any of us how they felt and what their life is like. He told them about being hungry and praying for food to come, and someone showing up with a large warm meal for them all. He challenged them to trust in the Lord with all their hearts.
Tomorrow, Joelle will be sharing her testimony of asking Jesus to take over her life as a young child, and feels led to then ask if any of them would like to do the same. Samuel has a very evangelistic heart as well, and it will be exciting to see how the Lord uses them (as he interprets). The rest of us will all be sitting out under the mango trees, with kids crowded all around us and on our laps, praying as they speak. Please join us in prayer for these precious kids - it will be at approximately 2:00.
Another sweet highlight of today was going into the church building after the kids got of school and watching a slide show of the October trip here, as well as a video where each of the October team members shared personally with the kids (interpreted into Creole by Brad & Monica Gautney). Pictures of each child showed on the screen as our LCF team told them that Jesus loved them and that they loved them. The kids were enthralled by seeing themselves on the screen (a white sheet), and excited to hear and see their friends from far away! Again, you could sense the Holy Spirit touching young hearts. Another really sweet moment that brought tears to my eyes was when our LCF kids (led by Cindy Davis) were on the video singing the song we taught these kids first in October of '09 - "Ho Ho Ho Hosanna" - and they started smiling and looking at each other then starting singing with the LCF children on the video! Talk about special! I'm sure even heaven was enjoying that one!
Scott, with help from Jake, Natou and a number of the boys, built shelves for the little library we'll be introducing tomorrow and to add to the medical clinic/storage room.
"Dr. Erik", as he's referred to here, saw "patients" throughout the day, from children to Mommas, for cuts to fevers and sore throats. He's become quite popular, along with his wonderful assistant, Tami!
A number of us cleaned out and painted the room that will house the library. The Mommas came in and oohed and ahhed when it was finished (almost - tomorrow is the completion).
Erik explained "de-worming" medicine to the Mommas and the need to give it to the children, which they were happy for. Then Janese explained it to the kids (after we played our paper plate tambourines and sang songs to Jesus). You should have seen their faces when she told them there were bugs inside them taking away the good nutrition from their food, and that these little orange chewable tablets would "kill the bugs!" They laughed but couldn't way to eat the tablets! :)
Okay, one last thing - a little boy named Mardoche, who lost both his parents in the earthquake, new to St. Louis du Sud, who tears up often - the Lord put him on my heart last night and this morning. When I got there, he came right over to me and wanted to be held. He was holding on tight, with his face pressed against mine. I said, "I will be your Mama," and he nodded and held on tighter - I assume he understood the word Mama, and just wanted her. I had the privilege of filling in today, as he fell asleep in my arms during the videos. Thank you, Lord, for letting us represent You this week. And thank you, LCF, for sending us.
Love you,
Bev
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