I got up early in the morning, put on my bathing suit, grabbed my snorkeling stuff and jumped in the water. I really did not expect to see much, but God had lots of surprises for me!
As soon as I reached the pilings holding up the dining room over the water, I was surrounded by thousands of little fish. It seemed like it was snowing fish! As I worked my way through the fish, I found a line of large cement blocks and started to see many other types of fish swimming around them. As I followed the blocks I came across something that looked like a ball made of feathers. I dived down to get a closer look, and found a fish that had blue and white “feathers” sticking out from it on all sides, so it looked like a ball of feathers. I had never seen anything like that in Haiti. On the next dive down to look at this extraordinary fish, I found a puffer fish!
I went back several times to make sure I knew the location of the “feather fish” because I wanted Ed and Justin to see it. So I swam back to shore and excitedly told Mark Bradley to go and wake up the boys so they could see the fish. Mark came back in his bathing suit and tried to find the fish, but by that time we were running late for church. Ed and Justin did not have time to put their suits on.
I told Mark that snorkeling is like a worship service for me as I marvel at God’s creation under the water!
Then we went to church in Archaie with Mark Bradley’s team. Pastor Kelly greeted us warmly and gave me the chance to introduce the entire team. He also gave me the opportunity to share the story of how I got shot. Then just as I was about to start speaking, Pastor Simon and his two children, Jude and Barbara walked in. They had come to see the progress on the school. My story was well received and I felt empowered by the Holy Spirit as I spoke.
Then a guest pastor spoke. He spoke from Galatians 1:1-9 where Paul talks about false doctrine. He spoke pretty slowly and clearly and I was able to translate most of the sermon for everyone. Ed and Justin were particularly pleased with the strong Gospel content of the message and even wanted to invest in this pastor’s ministry.
After church, we went to Pastor Kelly’s house for lunch and had a great time of fellowship. Jean Paul met us at the church to join us for the rest of the trip. Then we said goodbye to Mark’s team and set out for St. Mark. We stopped in St. Mark to talk to the newly appointed coordinator of the St. Marc regional committee. He received us warmly and we set up a training for June 30th and talked about the tournament we want to have in August when a team comes from Canada.
The Church in St. Marc:
Our second stop was in Liancourt to talk with a Pastor who was started a new work their in 2009. He said he started with a Bible Study with 3 young men. After six months they trusted in Christ and his church began to grow. Now they have 50 baptized members and 130 who have trusted in Christ. We will work together with this pastor when we have games in Liancourt and will also provide him with Christian literature and help train his leaders.
He lives right across from the town’s soccer field and so I told Ed and Justin they could play on the field while we met with the Pastor. When we went to get them, we found that they were talking with Liancourt’s second-division professional soccer team: the Black Panthers. They wanted the soccer ball they were playing with and were trying to manipulate Ed and Justin into giving to them. I told them that if they would pay attention to me for 5 minutes, I would give them the ball. So I told them the story of how I was shot, and how God assured me that if I was to die, I would go to heaven. We also gave them some tracts, and the Pastor we had met with earlier was there and I asked him to follow up with them. I also gave the pastor some tracts for the other team that was playing.
We finally arrived in Borel at 3:45 PM and found a funeral in progress. The Father of one of the boys on our teams had died after a long illness. I lent my leaders my pick-up truck so they could take the soccer team to the burial.
After the funeral, Ronald, Jean Paul and I met with the new committee for the Department of l’Artibonite. Everyone on the 5 member committee is very sharp and committed. I was very encouraged by their commitment and eagerness to share the Gospel through soccer.
As we sat around the table after dinner, I asked Jean Paul if he wanted to say anything to Ed and Justin. He said that he had benefitted greatly from working with me and AIS. He said I was like Paul and he was like Timothy. He also talked about some things he was learning through his marriage.
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