A Couple Days in Guinaudee

By the time we finally arrived in Guinaudee it was dark and when we went to open the back gate it was almost startling because all we could see was about thirty pairs of eyes staring at us as we started to unloaded. Some of the people in this village were friendly and welcoming but there was a large portion who were still very unsure about us being there. No matter how hard I tried not to compare the villages that we went to, it was very difficult especially since we had started out at the incomparable Petit Paradis. I had to be sensitive to the fact that we were strangers in their home. They were certainly curious about us but I am not sure they were as receptive. We set up camp in the schoolhouse with an extensive array of mosquito nets all over the place. I could not help but recall the original Parent Trap movie when the girls booby-trapped the other mean girls' tent during the middle of the night. It was a quite humorous parallel. So while we had our mosquito threat covered I soon uncovered an infestation of biting ants right on my slab of concrete were I was supposed to sleep. I did end up sleeping sitting up with my suitcase that particular evening because for whatever reason I could not get comfortable. However, it was all put in perspective as the night before we were in rat and scorpion territory. Did you know it takes something like 17 scorpion stings to kill you? I slept at ease knowing this little known fact. ;o) Rats were sounding pretty good by this point!

We were in Guinaudee to celebrate Easter the following morning. So for the four different Haitian church services that I attended while in Haiti, the one thing I noticed at all of them was that no matter what type of living conditions the people were coming from, their church clothes were always in mint condition. How were they able to keep these dresses stark white especially considering some of them lived in mud huts? And the fact that many of them had to walk for miles to even get to church in the morning? Just something interesting to note...the church service I attended weeks later in Cap Haitian held about 3,000 to 5,000 people but would you believe there was no parking lot??? Hard to believe, I know. Though we don't think much about our church attire and attendance back in the states, for people in Haiti this is something that is very important. It was awesome and encouraging to see where their priorities fell. Why is church something that we feel so flippantly about? Why do we take it so lightly? Is it again that we just have so much that is "more important" going on in our lives, that spending this time with God and our church community becomes an afterthought? It really is a sad thing that so many of us lack this motivation to put God first in our lives. As the pastor at my church here in Missouri spoke to this past Sunday, we need to put our "To Do Lists" on hold and focus on all the relationships in our lives. For those of you that know me, you know that I typically am one of those people who can have up to 5 of these lists going at any one particular point in time. I think that I really needed to hear this message especially directly following my return to reality, for there are so many things that need to be done. Since I have been back, I have really been trying to make sure that my priorities have been reorganized to reflect this very thing. When we look back on our lives, what is it that matters...All the money we've made? The house that we lived in? How kempt our front lawn was? Was it that we had that boat/rv come retirement?...Or is it the love that we shared? And the bonds that we made that are most important? Growing up with an alcoholic and workaholic parent, looking back you realize that you would have much rather had this parent spend time with you, rather than anything else in the world. We need to stop spending all of our efforts on those things that will burn up in the end and rather invest our resources in those relationships that far outlast the temporal. Investing in our relationship with Christ and those people God has put in our lives is something that doesn't depreciate after you drive it off the lot. Rather it is the only investment that means a darn thing as far as eternity goes. As pastor brought up and as referenced in Toby Mac's song, Lose My Soul, "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?" (Mark 8:36)

Ok, so while I was out for my run there was just one more verse God reminded me of..."For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:21) --Where is your heart...with those you love or those 'things' you love?

* Note: The above photos are from the clinic and children's VBS that we held there in Guinaudee the Monday after Easter.