Bondye ka fe tut bagay

Bondye ka fe tut bagay...God can do anything...and He did! Yesterday Roger, Kelsea, Liz, and I went fishing. We got out on the ocean right when the sun was rising over the mountains. The highlight of our trip was going to Lagonave, the island on the eastern side of Haiti that we can see on the balcony of the Mission. We found this amazing place where the water was an unreal blue color. How can God do that? After a little tour and picking up some bait, we headed back to the main island coast. After about 6 hours we were heading home and very disappointed that we hadn't caught any fish. We made it almost home and then (no I'm not going to tell you we caught tons of fish) we ran out of gas. Roger didn't think it was a problem and directed us to the shore. We followed him down a path to a road and he asked if we wanted to come because it was going to be a long walk. We all wanted an adventure so we didn't object. God totally provided because we started off and then a truck pulled up. We asked for a ride and was taken all the way to the road! Now we are on the side of Rt. 1 in Pierre Payen about 5 miles from our Mission.

Lagonave...water was breathtaking

Ok, now what? We ask around and find out there is no place to buy gas. We call some people and no one seems to know how to help us...now we are stranded? We tried one more person, Luis, a worker at the Mission and he agreed to bring us some gas. Yes we are saved! He pulled up a little while later and drove us back to the boat in the MoTap. Roger is excited now and we all hop back in the boat. Roger was ready to fish again! Still we catch no fish. We pull our boat in when we finished and found Gary, one of our other fisherman, returning from fishing. He caught 5 fish (2 sailfish, 1 mahi mahi, and 2 wahoo)! HE showed us up! Here we are all high tech with a motorboat and he went out in his wooden boat with jugs and line. Slightly embarrassed but God provided for our lack of fish.

We kindly walked Roger back to the fish house and thank him profusely for taking us out on the boat. It was so much fun! We got to end our day walking through the village to the road to catch a taptap. Or so we thought. We got on a taptap and then Dago, our driver for NVM, drives up in his car, honks at us and tells us to get in. God provided another ride for us!

At the end of the day waiting on the taptap right before Dago showed up to give us a ride home

God exceeded my expectations yesterday. We couldn't have asked for a better day or to be more well taken care of if we had planned it. It definitely goes down in the books as a day always to remember God's faithfulness and how much fun we had.

Montrouis International Fellowship

Today marked the third week of Montrouis International Fellowship, the first ENGLISH church in Montrouis, Haiti. New Vision Ministries with the help of Stephen and Autumn Byxbe and Dr. Dennis and Sara Cowley are raising up a church where people from all nations can gather together for church in English. It is located just down the street from the Mission and coincidentally where our kids from the Mission go to school.

This church within the last 3 weeks have been a blessing for many people in the area, including me. One of the things I missed the most being here was not having a place to worship and get fed every week. Don't get me wrong, Haitian church is awesome but only to the extent of learning their culture and seeing people on fire for God. It's tough to sit through a 3-4 hour long service only catching a few words here or there, praying you understand the gist of everything going on. I love it but I can't do it every week.

Today we were packed! The generator was working (woot woot!) so we had fans, microphones, and a little electric piano and guitar. We rocked out to some music and heard a great convicting sermon about God sending Jesus to free us from all sin...so stop trying to hold on to it! Even if you think it's little and not a big deal! And had wonderful fellowship with other who are here in Haiti for the same reasons as us. This has been on the hearts of New Vision Ministries for a long time and it is finally happening! Praise God! Please be praying for the church and the influence it will have on many people, Christian and non-Christian, here in Montrouis, Haiti. There is something big in store here in Haiti! (Pictures will be posted later...sorry!)

Wahoo!

Saturday I had my first deep sea fishing experience in the Caribbean Ocean. Months ago a shipping container was shipped to Haiti for New Vision Ministries. This container had three 20 ft. boats equipped with motors for the fisherman in the fishing village. They have been anticipating the arrival of the boats for months while it traveled from the U.S. to Haiti. Then they waited months for customs to release the container to Kerry. After a very frustrating process, we got them out last week! The men were ecstatic to finally have them in the fishing house yard. Roger was especially proud to show us the boats and motors and invited Liz, Shala, and myself out with him on Saturday. 

Six a.m. Saturday morning. We arrive in the fishing village via tap-tap (Haitian taxi) and walk with Roger and Jean-Benny to where the boat is stored on the shore. They pushed the boat into the water and gestured for us to get into the boat. We hopped in and once we got out a little ways we were handed a pole with the bait dragging behind the boat. It is mentally exhausting holding on to that fishing pole watching it jump around in the waves knowing that at any moment a fish might bite. Five hours of fishing, one Wahoo caught by Liz, mentally exhausted, tired hands, and sunburn but it turned out to be the most refreshing, peaceful day I have had here in Haiti. There is something special about working side by side with the fisherman as they proudly show us what they do to make a living in their brand new boats.