Long, but Good Day

After about 17 hours of travel I arrived in Port-au-Prince. The travel started Saturday evening and ended Sunday afternoon. So, I was already pretty tired when I was dropped off at the guest house. I wasn't expecting to do more than shower, eat and sleep. Then as I was getting out of the car the Pastor said that he was going to see the kids tonight at 5 pm and would pick me up. I thought, sounds good, but rather than have him pick me I said I would walk to the center and went inside the guest house. 

As I was settling in I started smelling dinner and wasn't 100% sure they were planning on serving on Sunday evening. I asked about dinner and was told that t would be served at 5pm. I messaged the Pastor, through Wilkens, that I would be late because of dinner and went back to settling in. Which turned into a quick nap. 

At about 4:30 I got up to prepare for the evening when a friend stopped by to chat as he heard I was in town.  Caught me off guard, but good to catch up. As I was lounging around thinking I had some time, in walks Wilkens and says that the Pastor is here to pick me; apparently he missed my text and the ladies in the kitchen had prepared and were just about to start serving dinner. Quick decision: ask my friend if he wanted the meal (yes), headed to the room for a quick change and out to the car. 

The fact that the car was loaded with people, including the Pastor's wife, should have been my first clue, but even this was not too out of the ordinary. But then we headed in the wrong direction and kept going for about 45 minutes. 

Backtrack. The day before I left I learned that some of the older kids from the center were attending a camp (more on that later). So when the Pastor said he was going to visit the kids, he meant those kids, while I thought he meant the kids at the center. So while I was a bit confused and tired this turned out to be a good thing in the end. When in Haiti you have to adjust quickly to circumstances. 

Once a year, 15 or so churches get together and send some of their youth to a camp that is about 45 minutes outside of PaP. Kids come from all over Haiti, including as far away as Cap Haitian. They spend a week worshiping, playing sports, studying the Bible, holding contests, and simply learning and living in the grace of God. It was wonderful to see. Haiti always surprises me. 

Ps you can see more pictures of the camp on the Source of Light Center's Facebook page https://m.facebook.com/centresourcedelumiere/