Rockpoint Students: Water Trucks + Soccer with the Boys (Day 5)

Good morning friends and family,

We are writing this morning about what we did yesterday (7/29/16) since we ran out of time yesterday.

We started out the day yesterday with about 9 of our team going to a Haitian church.  This was an amazing time to experience what a Haitian church is like.  It is very different than many churches in America.  The Haitians will walk up and down the aisles with their hands raised while some would wave their hands back and forth.  Surprisingly, many of the songs were in English.

After church we joined the rest of the team for breakfast and then headed out to our second water truck day of the week.  Our first stop was by far the dirtiest spot yet.  Many of the children were covered in dirt and throughout the process, our team also became dirty.  Our second water stop was one we had already visited. I (Cassie) held a little girl named Khaline the entire time, and when I would carry buckets she would hold onto my hand or shirt the entire time. Leaving is always hard, and all you can do is repeat the phrase "Jezi remen ou."

After returning from the water truck we headed out to play soccer with the neighborhood boys. We played in a dirt area next to the guesthouse, but eventually made our way to the nearby soccer fields. It was an adventure to fit 34 people in the tap tap... but an incredible memory. One of the guys, Dickinson, spoke English well and joked around with us all day. The Haitians played in circles around us, and they said that they played soccer while the white people filled in. The field had a lot of dirt patches, therefore, showers were necessary.

For dinner we headed off to Papillon Enterprises for pizza. We had a fun time bonding as a team playing bags, pool, and talking in the tiki hut. On the way home we encountered a Haitian traffic jam. It was fun to drive home in the tap tap in the dark.

Once we made it home we immediately went on the deck at the second guesthouse. We engaged in a powerful time of worship with Grace, a long term missionary here. During this time we could also participate in feet washing, a way to honor, apologize, or encourage our team members. It was a chance to draw closer to God and to our peers and was incredibly emotional. This time lasted for like an hour and a half, and we left the area in silence to reflect on what took place. It was pretty late when we got back, and we quickly went to bed.

We continue to ask for your prayers while we serve the people of Haiti.
Love, Cassie, Luke, and Peter as editor