The Conference is over....

The pastors’ conference went off without a hitch. It was really great having pastors coming from all over Haiti. It was a week of encouragement, training and refreshing for them. I have to admit, I really benefited from the week as well. We were all really busy during the conference, but between doing registration in the mornings, and doing Power Point and recording during some of the seminars, I also managed to spend some time with the ladies in the kitchen.
The picture here is of me at the registration table, with the guys.


I've been making some good friends here in Haiti, and the pastor's conference was really great for building relationships. This is a picture of me with one of my good friends Gina. We worked on the registration table together every morning during the conference.








This picture here is of me and Ketsia, serving the food at meal time.
When I say that I spent time in the kitchen, what I really mean is that I sat on a rock outside and cooked in a pot over coals. It was a really cool experience and I learned an awful lot of stuff that most people sure don’t have the opportunity to learn! The ladies were so excited to teach me how to do everything they do, and the way they do it. It really struck me how much it meant to them that I took the time to learn how they do things. Yes, I was helping them in the kitchen, but to be honest, I think that serving in the kitchen was far more than making chicken and rice. It was about relationships. I’m at a point in my language learning where I can really converse with the people. It was such a great opportunity to get to know the ladies and young girls, and I learned some valuable cooking skills along the way… they taught me how to prepare beef and chicken the Haitian way!
I have to admit that I can really see how God has worked in my life to prepare me for cooking with my Haitian friends (there was a time in my life when I never would’ve been able to do that) and I was reminded of how God always prepares us to do whatever He wants us to do. So be encouraged; if you ever feel God telling you to do something that you don’t feel you can do, just rely on Him and He’ll give you what you need to do what He wants you to do.

Happy New Year!

Even though we didn’t do much as a church for Christmas, New Years is a really big deal in Haiti, and we had a big celebration last night! Just this last week, I saw people putting up Christmas lights on trees near their doorways, and everyone was cleaning like crazy and hanging decorations to welcome in the new year.

Our church organized a service last night that lasted for about four hours and ended just after midnight. It was awesome! We turned the generator on and had some really incredible and powerful worship, with a time of intense prayer in the middle. I find church here really encouraging because so many of the people in our church really and truly worship God, and they mean what they pray, from the bottom of their hearts. Last night, the worship was intense. We had banners that people were waving and everyone was singing and dancing for the Lord. It was much more energetic than the average worship service in North America!
Partway through the service, we had a break time where people handed out bread and traditional Haitian ginger tea. The tea was good, but really strong. I couldn’t drink it very fast, cuz it kindof burns down your throat. After the service was finished, everyone visited for awhile and then we all had a big meal of rice and beans, chicken, and different kinds of Haitian salads. Here's a picture of me eating with my two roommates, Rachel and Rebecca, both from Alberta.






We ended up serving dinner to almost 700 people! The food was all pretty good, and I couldn’t help but think of all the weight I’m not gaining here that I would be gaining if I was in Canada for the New Year’s celebration. There’s just not much variety in food down here... no snacking on chips and cookies. It’s rice and beans every day, but at least the rice and beans are really good!





It was a really good night, filled with great worship and lots of fun with friends. Events like these are great opportunities to build relationships with the people! We all hung out and visited each other until early in the morning and by the time we got home it was already 4:00am!

Pastor's Conference

This week we are having a pastor’s conference for the pastors here in Haiti. Last year, we had 150 pastors present, plus several leaders in our church and community, totaling almost 200 people. This year, we’re expecting close to three hundred people. It’s going to be a really busy week for all of us who are part of organizing the conference. The conference begins on Tuesday of this week and there will be sessions everyday, until Friday. Pastors are coming from all over Haiti, and people from our church are billeting them. There are even three pastors from Canada and one pastor from Trinidad that are visiting Haiti specifically for the conference!

During the conference, I will be responsible for manning the registration table, as well as running the PowerPoint during the sessions and I’ll also be recording each session and selling the CD’s afterwards. I’ve always been told that a missionary needs to know how to do everything, and I’m learning that it’s really true! Flexibility and adaptability are two absolutely essential character qualities for the mission field!

I’ve included a picture here of me translating some notes for the conference, with Jordan and Colbert. It took us four and a half hours, and we still weren’t finished the seventeen pages of notes. We were translating them from English into Creol, so the guys were helping me with vocabulary, and since they can’t type, I was typing all the Creol.

I’d appreciate your prayers this week and I know it’s going to be busy, and not everything will go as planned. I know this because things never run the way they would if we were in Canada…. but I’m learning that as long as it runs, that’s all that really matters.
- Please pray for the pastors who will be receiving training and encouragement in the Lord this week.
- Pray for safety for the pastors, as traveling in Haiti is not considered ‘safe’ right now. (Grand Goave is a safe town though, so we’ve just been staying close to home)

Wonderful Graduation

Colbert, one of my students and also my French teacher, is the principal of a language school in Grand Goave called ‘The Wonderful English, French and Spanish Institute’. I have spent some time visiting his school and helping wherever I am needed. I even had the chance to give an exam at the end of the term.

Last Thursday was the school’s graduation and Colbert asked me if I would be willing to hand out the certificates to the graduates. Of course I said I would, and it turned out to be a really cool experience. Colbert and all the staff and students at the school were really excited to have me there! It was weird, cuz sometimes when I’m here I forget that I’m white, but when I looked at my pictures later, I realized how much I stood out on the stage!

Before we gave out the certificates, Colbert asked me to give a little speech to encourage the students. I didn’t realize I was going to be giving a speech until he handed me the microphone when we were on stage, but I thought of something to say off the top of my head and was grateful for all the times I’ve had to speak in front of people back in Canada! lol