This morning we had a lay in until 7am. Wow, wouldn't get up this early at home.
We went to church at Agua Negros. Thought we were going to the church that Sandra goes to, but the interpreter isn't there so we went to a Haitian church along the road. It was a very small building and baking hot inside. They all shuffled around to accomodate us, and brought in more chairs, some people had to stand at the back, but they made sure we all had a chair. Their worship is so different to ours, they just sing without instruments and they all seem to know the songs by heart and there is such rhythm. Their prayers are all so passionate and there is a lot of response from the congregation. We in England are like stuffed mummies in church sometimes.
The sermon was very passionate also and translated for us. It was on Lazarus and the rich man. Luke 16:19 onwards. I felt we were being told off, but Hannah and I discussing it later thought that perhaps the translating went astray at times. It was very hot wwe were all sweating at one point Sandra sitting behind me wiped some sweat from off my neck. I don't know if I would have done that for anyone else. Then she swapped places with me as she was next to a window with a little breeze.
After church we headed back to the first church and the minibuses, but walked past them into Church. Oh well. It was good in some ways. This second church was Dominican Republican but was translated into Creole and English, puts us to shame. They had a drum kit which was brilliant. They sang a lot again and we had to sing to them. Alla Borai, only Spanish song that we know. They all joined in with us, thank goodness. At some point they turned the generator on so the fans could work but it was so noisy we couldn't hear what was going on. So they had to turn it off again. This is the hottest day so far, when we are at work although it is hot there is a breeze at times. When the service finished, which I think was cut short as everyone was hot, the Pastor kept wiping himself with a small towel, we were ushered downstairs for some coke and ice, fantastic. Whilst we were there this lady appeared and asked if we could give anything to help her, she was single mum with 4 children, Sandra said this was very unusual, but the lady was desperate. The love of Jesus was evident in both churches very strongly.
This afternoon we had free and I spent 3 hours in the sea afterwards I felt I was still gently bobbing up and down in the waves. Actually Lawrence had asked that we didn't go swimming in the sea, as Mercy Ships (another mission organisation) had had someone drown last week and Mission Direct has had 2 people drown whilst on mission trips. None of us are swimming out, we are able to touch the bottom and are really just splashing around. There are lifeguards at the beach. There are 2 beaches but we always tend to go to the same one, its a lot less crowded.
Talk to you all soon.
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