LEX

that's what i love about sundays...

it's a great song, but very american. yet i still love sundays.

today was my first visit to Chichigua. we went to the haitian church that Mares pastors. i understood very little, as most of it was in haitian kreyol. though i was excited that i caught most of the spanish (you're prayers are working!). yet despite the lack of understanding of the message and the words of the songs, it was an amazing thing to behold.

these people have nothing. they do hard labor to get practically nothing. they pay rent for their little spot of nothing. yet they gather every sunday morning in their tiny tin church and belt out their praises to our God. i received more hugs and handshakes on my first visit to this church than i typically receive on any given sunday in churches i have been a part of for years. makes me wonder what we really know about loving and welcoming others.

then we went to visit bernard, who does fantastic metal art. he's saving up money to build a house. then he will look for a wife. he was telling us about how he went to the bank and, while distracted by a phone call, he was taken for $700. he didn't realize it until he got home and looked at his receipt. now to many of us americans, $700, though not a fun amount to lose, doesn't hurt us too badly. it kills me to think about how long it might have taken him to save up that much. yet the whole time we visited with him, he was so joyful. he even tried to cut some of us a deal on our purchases. to think of all the times i've made sure i was reimbursed for something i lent - bernard unknowingly taught me a huge lesson today.

someday relatively soon (im here for a year, mind you, so im not in a huge hurry ;-) i hope to have pictures posted here of some of bernard's work. if you're interested in purchasing some, let me know and i'll get you the hookup. and the word on the street is that when Dominican Joe's opens in Austin (hopefully sometime in august...), it will also be available there at some point.

i don't even have enough words to adequately express the remaining experiences i've had thus far. so i guess that means you'll just have to come and see for yourself...

posted by Alexia & Jeffrey @ 10:08 PM