Sunday

Today was Sunday and the first day on Eastern Standard Time here in Haiti as well as elsewhere in the US.  The longest sleep night of the year was not totally enjoyed by all, and most of us guys were up pretty early.  One of the distractions was a Voodoo Ra-Ra Band that was drumming and chanting and screaming somewhere outside within a block or so.  This went on incessantly until past 4am.  A passing thunderstorm seemed to quiet things down but it was short-lived.  Breakfast was supposed to be at 8:30 am but there was some confusion about the time and a few of us were not on the breakfast schedule.  That was not a problem as some additional food was brought out and then we made up sandwiches for lunchtime as there would be no food service at lunch.
We then had a time of sharing that would be our church service, since we elected not to go out to any Haitian churches this morning.  We went around the room and did introductions.  Then to conclude our time together we watched the Francis Chan video clip on "The Rope".

After that we were driven to the north of Saint Marc where we would hike up to an old French fort on a hill overlooking the ocean.  All of our team participated on this hike along with one complete YWAM family and several other staff members.  The hike was up a very steep and rocky trail over 500' in elevation above the ocean.  We needed a few rest stops on the way up this hill.  There were 4 or 5 cannons up there from over 200 years ago.  Some of the fort has crumbled due to age, but it was very easy to see that this was a very strategic defensive position for this section of Haiti at one time.  We could just imagine cannonballs being fired on ships close to shore.  The hike down can sometimes be more treacherous than the hike up as your heart is taxed on the way up but often your feet and knees are taxed on the way down.  But we all made it.  While we were at the fort we took a number of photographs of our entire team, the first time we were all together for a photograph since we arrived.  The photos here will show some of the work from Saturday as well as our trek to the fort.  Tomorrow we will pick up where we left off yesterday and we are confident that a lot of work will get done.  Thank you for "resting" with us this day, the Lord's Day.