Church:What a ride! (Sunday Aug 21, 2011)

Haitian roads have been in rough shape for a long time, but are in even worse condition after the Jan 2010 earthquake.  From my best guess, the church we attended is about 5-10 miles away, but the ride can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour (sometimes more depending on traffic jams or car trouble.)  Since everyone has to deal with the same spontaneous road hazards like overturned buses or trucks, broken down “Tap-Taps” (Haitian Taxis made of compact Isuzu pickup trucks) in the middle of the road, freight trucks parked to unload fruits and vegetables or just dodging the potholes… So, church just starts about the time everyone arrives.

Honestly, the worship environment there is unlike anything you’ve ever experienced here in the U.S.  It is an incredible experience to worship God especially with those in the developing world.  The passion and atmosphere is set by the powerful Brooklyn Tabernacle Church leadership team that planted the church, but is further attributed to the Haitian Pastoral team that has taken the church to the next level.

There is something that happens deep in your soul when you truly recognize that you are desperate for God.  Here in the States, we have so many things that cloud our vision and prevent us from such a submissive and humble posture – although Haiti has their own selfishness – many of the distractions we have here in the US are not as prevalent there and permit your heart to experience God’s greatness and express it back to Him!    

Ps. 103:1-5 says,

Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 

Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—
who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Regardless of my location or circumstance, I pray that I will always retain the sense of desperation and dependence on God that I experienced while worshipping with such a precious community of people there.  By the time we all made it back from Church in an assortment of TapTaps and a borrowed SUV, we ate lunch, and rested the rest of the day.  It was hot… but peaceful.