Grace

Today myself and 4 others had the opportunity to take another trip into the mountains with Pastor Markey and Sidney. We were en route to visit another church that Pastor Markey is hoping to pair with a sister church from the US but an hour and a half into our drive the road was no more. Apparently a truck had attempted to make it across this already very narrow road and ended up sliding down the very steep side of the mountain. It was unclear when the accident happened but after surveying the scene we had to turn around and return down the mountain. But of course Pastor Markey did not let the trip go to waste, instead he took us into a very rural area where a pastor friend of his lives with his 5 kids. The pastor we met is actually a Baptist pastor but makes weekly trips to Jacmel to study and train with Pastor Markey in order to become a Lutheran pastor. I can't imagine any American making the drive up and down the mountain like Pastor Markey and Sidney. They are fearless and so familiar with every bump in the road it seems like. I also think that Haiti must sell extremely durable tires for their vehicles. After visiting the pastor we continued on our journey back to Jacmel. We made other stops at the house of a church member who was having a roof put on and also at the door "factory" (I use that term loosely) where doors were being made for a church we visited earlier in the week.

We noticed a few things on our trip with Pastor and Sidney such as they do everything on their own time.  No plan has a set time and if you're early or late, no one is waiting there to scold you. This mindset seems to lead to less stress, at least in my mind, because no one is in a hurry to get anywhere. Pastor Markey takes his very limited time in his very busy schedule to run errands and make stops at these places to ensure that things are in order. He is truly a servant of his people and his people love him. He makes it a priority to visit various churches in the area knowing that some trips make take 5 hours round trip or that he has to climb an extremely steep mountain in order to get to them but he does it with no complaints but with joy and excitement. It's amazing to see the love that he projects to not only the members of his congregation but to the people of Jacmel.  It's just as amazing to see the respect and reverence that they give to him without his asking.  Pastor Markey is the epitome of gracious. He continues to give to the church and to others even when there is barely anything to give. The churches that we visited this week are churches that Pastor Markey is helping to build physically and spiritually. All of the churches are growing in size and are in need of both structural and financial help. I had the privilege of sitting down with some of our group members as well as Pastor Markey and the pastors of the respective churches. We found out that all of these pastors are working tirelessly with their congregations and are receiving no compensation. Pastor Markey distributes money and supplies as much as he can but the materials unfortunately spread thin. But I see similarities between Pastor Markey and Pastor Strom in that they are relentless in their work for others and their communities. They are relentless in their compassion and grace. They never ask but always give and the relationship that I've seen grow this trip is one for the books. We have all been so lucky to spend the majority of our time with Pastor Markey and Sidney and have learned so much about them and about their goals and visions for the church and for the churches in Jacmel.

As our trip is once again winding down I feel so blessed to have spent another amazingly successful trip in Haiti. Success has so many definitions in our minds and has changed every year with our changing trips. This year we have learned to let go and let God, just as our Haitian friends do every day.