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Day 2 - Casale Haiti: Worship, Site visit, & Hike

Productive day: Church in the morning, site visit in the afternoon, muddy hike in the pouring rain, and team meeting at night.

Church was powerful in the morning. It’s an english church and the pastor is from Boston. He preached on Exodus 20, comparing the reaction of people and Moses in face of God’s majesty.

‘Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid [4] and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.’

Are you standing far off? or are you willing to draw near when God manifests Himself even if it means heading into a “thick darkness?”

Real Hope for Haiti acquired a 20 acre site in a town called Cassale. According to Bob, our trip leader, the site has quite a “character.” By character, he meant a lot of variation in topography. As far as we can see, the site has two hills and not any level ground. Our hope is to keep its “character” as much as we can while providing for all the needs which the ministry has. The project will be phased, but ultimately, they want a hospital, a resuce center, housing for staff, and much more. We’ll sit down with the ministry tomorrow to nail down some numbers and we’ll need to get cranking as soon as we can. Four days seem way too short to masterplan a site along with initial design of the first phase buildings. One of my hope for this trip is to know God in new depths and to see His glory. There is nothing on this trip which we could achieve by our own might, only through the Lord’s.

Our hike back from the site was a rainy one. To be exact, it was pouring and we were soaked. As we winded down the footpath and passed by different households, some laughed at us, some offered us help, some invited us to take shelter in their house. At home, I’d be annoyed by getting soaked and muddy. However, it was fitting to have an adventure and the opportunity to meet the ministry’s future back door neighbours.

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