The team worshipped at Bon Berger (Good Shepherd) in Cayes, which is the first and largest of the ESMI-planted churches in the region, pastored by Louis St Germain. It is a well known church in that region of Haiti, and its services are televised locally and streamed live on the internet. As a result, it’s not uncommon for several thousands to tune in every Sunday, many expatriate Haitians living all over the world. The worship service is long (by US standards) and loud, and joy filled and lively. Our team leader, Ted, preached twice today, once at Cayes and once at Cambry, with the help of an interpreter. The team met new little friends and saw old ones, including Toto (see picture).
There was also a special third “graduation service” this afternoon at Cambry, honoring students completing training in the health services field and other vocational training offered by ESMI’s school. Ted spoke at that, too, and a few team members tagged along. After clocking in at three hours in length, they wished they’d known what they were getting into!
This afternoon, the mammoth sorting job was done. This will allow them to be strategic as to what they take tomorrow to Cavaillon as far as medicines and supplies, as it’s not possible to carry everything at once each day. It will be a nightly job to restock, re-direct, re-purpose all that they brought, based on the needs of the community they’re going to. In some places, they'll see numerous adult community members as well as kids, so meds that adults might need will be packed in greater quantities for those trips, for instance. See some pics attached of bags going to Cavaillon and some reserved for the rest of the week.
The team also got an orientation on how our teams set up medical stations and training on how to do each job that’s been assigned. Some will do vital stats like height and weight, some will do a scabies wash (scabies are tiny skin parasites that causes incessant itching, leading often to skin infections, and it’s rampant in tropical regions and especially easy to transmit in shared living environments like orphanages; our teams treat every child they see on every trip). There’s a full scale mobile pharmacy to dispense meds prescribed by doctors, which the housemoms are given for each child and administer as needed.
Last thing for the evening is "the parade of showers" - 16 people and two bathrooms. Talk about advanced planning abilities!
One correction from last night's update - there were 35 large duffel bags brought into Haiti, not 65. Forgive the typo!
Please pray:
- For restorative sleep aided air conditioning, even in cramped and shared sleeping rooms. The short night last night, the long day in new surroundings today, and the busyness of the day all take their toll. Everyone wants to hit the ground running tomorrow.
- For the team to continue to quickly coalesce into a smooth working unit. They did a great job today sorting and working together. There’s always more to do than can get done every day, and working well together means more are served.
- For continued good health as the week goes on.
- For safety in travel. The trip to Cavaillon tomorrow will likely be in a few four wheel drive open bed trucks (travel between ministry sites is part of the adventure of ministry in Haiti; some say better than a ride at Disneyworld). It will be about 45 minutes. Also please pray for a timely departure with no hiccups. They hope to leave about 8:30 EST, but things run on Haiti time.
- For the work the team will do in sharing the gospel along with medical care. Every person seen by the team stops at several “stations”, one to take vital stats, for instance, before seeing a medical provider. At most stops, they are prayed for as well. The gospel is shared numerous times during the day.
- For the water team who will be checking the water system at Cavaillon, installed last year.
- For the continued work of the pastoral training team in Jeremie. A picture is attached of a building being used in Jeremie to house orphans there.
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