After attending the 6.00 am Easter Service at our church and
saying good bye to the congregation we were picked up by Pasteur Ruben who took
us to his congregation which is in a rural area 1 hour out of Cap Haitien and
at the foot of the world famous Citadelle. On the way we picked up the preacher
of the day and his pregnant wife as well as Jacqueline, Ruben’s wife, and her
cooking team. All the cooking gear was placed on the back of the truck as well
as myself and 3 of the younger passengers as the cabin was packed full with 6
people.
The trip was dusty and bumpy and we had to cross a couple of
rivers which fortunately were very low as it hasn’t rained here since December last
year. We eventually arrived at Ruben’s church where the service had already
started. We were introduced to the congregation and I was asked to say a few
words which I did diligently.
As the service was going for another 2 hours we were allowed
to leave and have a look around the local village which has fantastic views of
the Citadelle ( Fortress) perched on the top of a nearby hill.
As we were waiting for the service to finish and the food to
be cooked I entertained the Sunday School children who looked rather interested
by our presence. I taught them in English how to count to ten, the months of
the year and days of the week and I must say they learnt it very quickly! We
had a good chat in French and I enquired about their names, age, whether they
had any brothers or sisters etc. They were really lovely kids and very keen to
learn all about myself and New Zealand. They even asked me to sing so I gave my
best rendition of ‘ Pokare Kare Ana’ and I had the impression they were
impressed with my vocal talents!!!
The service eventually finished and had a yummy lunch of
chicken, rice balls, fried plantain bananas, potatoes, and vegetables
accompanied by fresh pineapple juice. By the time we had finished eating it was
4.00 pm and time to head home. I jumped back on the truck and off we went.
This was such a special Easter Sunday which I will always
remember!
No comments:
Post a Comment