Well, we’re a little late getting our letter out this month due to some recent internet trouble but we are nonetheless happy to share with you all that has been happening around the mission here in Haiti. Last week schools all across the country were closed in observance of Holy Week leading up to Easter. Every year during that week, the voodooisants (voodoo worshippers) come together in public street ceremonies called a bann rara, where they dance, chant, and play instruments worshipping satan and celebrating the death of Jesus. They will often perform these ceremonies all day long without stopping to rest or eat. Voodooisants believe that Jesus’s disciples did indeed steal the body of Christ from the tomb and that He never resurrected therefore they observe Good Friday as a day of celebration and victory for satan. Christians however come together and invite others to nightly services and various other activities to make much of Jesus and discourage people from participating in public activities that may turn any kind of attention to the bann rara’s. Our church did our part by holding nightly services and showing the Jesus film one night. It was a blessing to see both familiar and unfamiliar faces in the services. While the voodooisants took to the streets, we took to the kitchen where Cassie made treats that we delivered to our fellow church members. With schools being closed we decided to take advantage of the free time and cool mornings to go visit and pray with some of our dear brothers and sisters and invite folks to our Easter services.
A bann rara street ceremony.
Sister Capton aka "Marenn", one of our beloved church members who is mostly house ridden. She was one of our several stops while out delivering the baked goods.
While we held the fort down in Mole St. Nicholas, Pastor Kenan spent Holy Week in Port au Prince with our associate church, Nerija Baptist, for an Easter service and for a baptism service where thirteen new believers were baptized. Praise God!!!
One of our favorite times of the school day is story time with the preschoolers. Every morning we read a Bible story that concludes with an illustration of how each story points to Jesus. We have just begun our second round through the book for this year and it’s so heart-warming to see and hear how the children are retaining different details of each story. We’ve also come up with questions that help them remember the main points of the stories too. After Bible time we also have a short English lesson where they learn vocabulary and counting. They are learning so much and we are so proud of their progress!!
To top off this month’s newsletter we get to report the best news about our little sister Dahana. In previous newsletters we had written about Dahana who lives next door to us in the mission house. She is fourteen years old and practically an orphan. Her mother died when she was just seven months old and her father, who she barely knows, moved away to the Dominican Republic. Over the last several weeks we had been engaging in conversation with Dahana about her faith life and came to realize she was mostly unaware of the details of the gospel and what it means to be saved. We began to pray for her and continued engaging in conversations about Jesus and salvation. One day while Chris was sitting outside reviewing the children’s Bible storybook that we use to teach the preschoolers, Dahana approached with interest in the stories and with questions. Flipping over to the story of Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection, God began speaking to her heart through the story and our continued conversations. A few days later there was a knock on our door. It was Dahana saying that she wanted to be saved. Seeing that she was still unclear about some important details, we sat down with her to watch a gospel presentation followed by more conversation. In those moments God was really working on her heart and she realized her need for Jesus and placed her faith in Him. We are beyond thrilled that the Lord saved this young lady who is so special to us. All glory to Him!!
With Dahana at one of our Easter services.
