Journey from Fontamara to Fondbra:

Today I (Matt Cox) got to experience so many different cultures here in Haiti. It was so amazing that we could travel 2 hours north and be in the village of Fondbra where there is no electricity, only occasional running water, and houses built out of thatched roof sticks stacked on each other and tied together. The journey began early in the morning around 7:00 - we did devotional and got things ready to take to the orphanage.

Early on as we stood and waited for the bus to arrive a group of our team found a piano in the house and began to use the free time to lift up the Lord in song. How amazing it was to stand back and listen to people from different nations across the world sing out to God praising His name in song. One team member stated tonight during “Stretched and Blessed,” that the singing gave him an idea of what it must have been like in Biblical times when people talked in tongues. All were giving glory to God in their own tongue - what an awesome moment!

As the bus arrived we packed all our gear and headed to the mountains. Little did we know what was in store for us as we traveled the roads of Haiti. At -one point we were on somewhat smooth, paved roads; at other times-and this is a literal meaning-we were driving upstream through a RIVER! I have been upstream in boats, kayaks, and such, but never in an open air bus- wow! As we arrived at our destination the kids and village were happy to see us, knowing we had food and medical aid-I also would like to think they were happy that we brought the Word of God to share with them.
The medical team did an awesome job today- there were a lot of moments that might have caused us to shut down camp and head home. Yet under the direction of our great leaders Dr. K and B we pushed on and did what we could to heal the people of the village. Today’s patients -as I understand- all truly needed to see a doctor. This wasn’t “scratch and bruise” day- it was gash, trench foot, and broken legs day. It hurts to see the serious needs that these people have, yet it hurts much worse having to leave while knowing that some of these people aren’t going to be seen by the doctor. May God look down on them with mercy and be the great physician- healing the people of that village.

While visiting door-to-door and sharing the gospel during medical clinic, the evangelism team encountered some committed Christians. It was quite a joy in my heart to know that they praise and give glory to the same God that my family worships. On the other hand, one lady today had not heard the name of Christ and did not know what He had done for her on the cross. As I spoke to the crowd, my interpreter and I began to feel the mighty working of the Holy Spirit, and He also began working in the heart of this lady. She began desperately praying for Jesus Christ to come into her heart as her savior. After we talked with her for a while to ensure that she understood about salvation, she prayed to have Jesus come into her heart and forgive her for her sins, lead her and guide her. We also prayed that she would begin to share about Jesus with others who need to know about his saving grace. If this story doesn’t pump you up, I don’t know what will. One big group at the same time today also prayed to have Jesus as their personal Savior; as we finished praying we all began to shout “Glory be to God who came to save all of us.” It was amazing. WOW. Here are the names of the ones who got saved today - please pray for them.

Lorinneul
Farimanline
Roricia
Doudoce
Matthieu
Versine
Mentor
Brevil
Bervllil
Bervious
Hilise
Jean
Ehvicia
Lan
Jean
Ascimeius
Cola

Finally on the way home we stopped at Domino’s to eat pizza in downtown Port au Prince. Let me describe it this way. I saw a man sitting on his (what I think was his) house just looking down in sadness wondering what had gone wrong for this (the earthquake) to happen. At another place, I saw two ladies digging through the rubble rock by rock, piece by piece, trying their best to possibly uncover loved ones.

Destruction was everywhere you looked, but this is how I want to end today’s blog. As we passed through the town and saw all the destruction, people were out on the streets everywhere. They were selling items- whether it was remote controls, sun glasses, or bananas - people are starting over.

The best thing is that we saw people in churches singing songs and glorifying the Lord despite that all that has happened.

Posted by Matt Cox on helpinghandshaiti.blogspot.com

Charlotte