There's always more stories to tell. At the risk of boring you with mountains of details which may or may not have significance to you, I will try and summarize as the days events the best I can recall. There is a church in a place called Fon Chwal (deep horse) which is about 45 minutes outside of Port-au-Prince, but like most things the ability to get there and back would be a full day adventure. The purpose of the trip was to see the church, meet the people and experience the warmth and friendliness of these people who struggle to survive in remote location. By the time we got to the spot were we could park the cars, we still had about a 30 min climb in the hot sun. We got to the church by about noon and were glad to get in out of the sun. We're simply not use to this kind of heat. We were welcomed by sharing in their noontime prayer service.

Side Note: I have not included the all details in this story such as my attempt to drive out of Port-au-Prince (which I did quite well) which ended rather abruptly when I got stopped by police at a check station for not having a valid drivers license. (Actually I had no drivers license with me at all!) Fortunately, Tony Long tells this story better, so ask him!

What I found most memorable about this prayer service was that everyone of the villagers wanted to share a special gift with us as their guest. Though they had very little possessions, they had their voices as a gift from God. We enjoyed several songs that were sung for us as a gift. We were humbled and blessed at the same time. As we journeyed on, Pastor Luc pointed out the house where he participated in Voodoo as a boy and showed us a tree next to the house that is still used to present gifts to Satan in the hopes that some evil would befall and enemy. In this place, the spirituality of these people and the battle they face against the forces of darkness is something you really feel. There is an eeriness as you walk past they sacrifice to the devil. After climbing down from the mountain and handing out candy and balloons, we attended another prayer services of women and children. The story is that a woman who grew up in this community had moved to the Bahamas. When she learned that a house was built for Voodoo, the story goes, she returned, knocked the house down and build this tin-roofed shelter for a women's prayer group. I suspect almost 200 women and children were gathered for a morning of prayer. When the prayer time was over, they were given a cup of coffee and roll since few had eaten yet that day. These people inspire me, humble me and motivate me to take the power of Christ more seriously! By the time we returned, we were exhausted and yet energized by the spirituality of these people. I hope you enjoy the photos.