The fifth day we finished the house that we were working on since Day 3. It was a bit more hot but not as bad as Monday. The work day wasn’t too eventful as we buckled down and worked to finish the site. That didn’t stop us from ministering to the people though!  If I recall correctly, the fifth day we had a lot more visitors coming by because helicopters were flying into the area and dropping off supplies, so a lot of the villagers were walking along the road. More of our team mates went out this day than any other day I think, and we sang songs with them and played games, and shared Bible stories.
On one occasion I went out to take some pictures and talk to the kids as they were racing against each other and some of our team mates. Once I got out there, I was asked to race, and so in spirit of cooperation I ran the race. Little did I know that the boots I was wear pretty much makes it impossible to run in, and while all the kids were going to the finish line, I lost my balance and tumbled over and fell… Pretty embarrassing, but I was surprised that even though the kids were laughing at me, they were helping me to get all the dust off of me. It was a laughable moment, and took some pictures with the winner (who is incredibly fast). His name is Pierre.
After we finished the house, we took a group picture with the home owner and all the Haitian’s that were working with us and a prayer. I think that while God blessed us with great team unity, it also included the Haitian’s who were paid to work alongside with us. Our team never excluded them during breaks, took care of them to make sure they drank water too. They even bought us fresh coconuts the first working day. So as we prayed we stood in a circle and held hands and prayed. After we prayed, we all hugged and thanked each other for their hard work and dedication.
Not much happened when we got back to the house, but later that night, one of the team members heard some kind of  worship service going on next door to our compound and wasn’t sure if it was a voodoo related. So some of us went to check it out, and confirmed that it was a voodoo service. I don’t think they sacrificed any people or anything like that, but it was disturbing to see the service going on about 100 feet from our house. We decided to bring out our travel guitar and have our nightly worship outside where we could sing praises to God, and pray over the situation. Later, one of the cook’s daughters revealed to us that one of her friends was actually murdered earlier that very same day because of some voodoo ritual/followers. That’s just one of the things people (not necessarily Christians) are up against in Haiti, and like I said before, voodoo teaches and instills fear into lives of its followers, because if they don’t do something, a bad curse will be placed on them. Christians on the other hand give hope in Jesus Christ and He gives salvation and grace to those who repent and believe in Him.
I think seeing this voodoo worship gathering helped me realize that when doing God’s work, we are bound to see and experience opposition, because there is ONE person who will do anything to stop the work of the Holy Spirit, and if we aren’t seeing that opposition or persecution in a sense, then maybe something is very wrong. I can only imagine why Paul would count the sufferings for Christ sake pure joy. Maybe it’s because he knows that the sufferings are what confirms the work he is doing is being strongly opposed by the one who does NOT want God’s Kingdom to advance… I hope this speaks to your heart, because as Christians, we will NEVER have it easy, and the moment we get to comfortable in our life, the harder it will be to follow and answer God’s calling and direction. May we all seek suffering not for the sake of suffering, but knowing what we are doing is really God’s will in our life.
