Worship, Chambrun, and Kids

Bon swa from Haiti.  This is Jon Hughes, a member of the Grace Group, and it is my privilege to provide you my prespective on our time here with NVM.

The girl in the pictures above is about 16 months old, or roughly the age of my son, Nolan.  Her face speaks volumes to me and her life will impact mine forever.  Her young story is one of trial, tribulation, and yet, simultaneously, joy.  From the town of Chambrun Haiti, this young girl has survived the threat of persecution from the very life that God used to create her. In fact, she was left for dead on three occassions.  However, God, through His people, has given her hope, and in her hope, I find my own.   I put her picture here to give us all hope.  The hope that is in Jesus Christ.  I hope for new life.  In Luke 9:10-17, we are given the picture of God feeding the 5,000 with two fish and five loaves of bread. That stoy is one we have heard over and over and can often recite it as a miraculous sign that confirms that Jesus was and is the Mesiah.  But today, as we as a team reflected on that verse, I was reminded that Jesus' miracles of creating something out of little, multiplying what we his people can bring, is what gives new life to the people of the World.  

We started the day today with another very powerful image -- worship. Although I knew it to be true even before I arrived in Haiti, I was reminded this morning that we Worship the God of the Universe.  His Truth is THE Truth.  It is the truth for those of us in the United States, and it is the Truth for people all across this globe.  As I sat in Church this morning, and we worshiped in Creol I was blown away by how the God we worship is one God, the same God for all who teaches the same truth for all.



 Above is a look inside of the church before service.  As you can see it is totally packed.  Most of the children you see in the picture left prior to service to go to their own sunday school, and then our team was able to join the Haitian people for worship.  Below you can get a glimpse of some of our team prior to service. The building behind us is the church here on NVM's campus.

It was amazing to watch the people walk in from town (which is maybe less than a quarter mile away from the church).  They walk along a dirt and rock road, and they come in wearing their sunday best.  The women wear the most beautiful dresses and the men (though there were few) wore, in some instances suits and ties.  It was quite a scene to behold.

During service, we worshiped in song in both English and Creole.  Pastor Pierre (the head pastor here at NVM, and the one in whom God planted the vision for NVM) introduced the mission teams that were on campus and asked us each to sing a song.  We sang "Every Move I Make."  My friends in little one's way at Grace will be proud to know that those of us who knew the motions did them proudly!! The Church band joined in and we rocked out for a while.

After church, the kids hung out with us outside of the church, and we took lots of "photos."  They all ask "photo" "photo?" and then pose.  Then they take your camera and take about a hundred pictures on their own.  Below are some of the better ones from after church.

The kid on the right in the picture above is Josie, which is Joshua in English.  He showed me several times where his name is in the Bible and then asked for my name.  When I said "Jon" he showed me where John was in the bible. Amazing to know that God is teaching these Children His Word.

If anyone was worried, Ron is in normal form :).

After Church we went to the Village of Chambrun, which is about 1/4 of a mile from the compound.  We walked to the village over the same rocky path that I mentioned above.  When we got there, we visited the orphanage first and played soccer with the kids.  They were such a joy to play with, and really touched my life more than I could ever hope to touch theirs.

I took a few pictures of the inside of the children's orphanage, but the one below said the most to me.

NVM is currently constructing two buildings to move the children's home/orphanage to the main campus.  Pray that these buildings get completed soon so that the Children can have more of the things that they need.  For now, they have three bed rooms, and this is the only one that is painted.  Praise God for the toys and stuffed animals they have to call their own.



After playing soccer for about an hour we went further back into the village and, amidst mud huts fellowshiped with the villagers and spoke mostly with the Kids, who again wanted their "photo."  They love to pose.  This picture was taken by one of the kids who wanted to use my camera and these two posed for him probably 10 times.  It is quite the experience.  I hope you, like I, can see the joy in their face.  I wish, though, that you could see the despair they live in.  The place they call home, in most instances, is nothing mroe than a house made of mud.  Currently it is raining, and we were told that tomorrow most of them will have to rebuild their entire homes.  I was also told that they have a saying here in Haiti:  "A leaky roof can fool the sun, but it cannot fool the rain."  Pray for these people.

I leave you with this final photo.  A young girl at the orphanage whose smile and eyes simply lit up my day.  How a young girl can find joy in the midst of despair is beyond me, but I hope that the joy she shows fills your heart.  In the love of Christ, the Grace Team.