Team Journal 3

Sunday, June 30 
Written by Marijke Proos 

We woke up early knowing that delicious cinnamon buns were waiting for us. Church began shortly after breakfast. 

Everybody was dressed quite fancy. 

We sang a few songs in French and Creole, most of which had familiar tunes. The local people have an amazing memory; they knew most of the songs by heart. 

When the sermon began some of us went along to the children’s program. Kristie read a Bible story and we sang songs with the kids. Afterwards they colored a picture. I love the children here; they are always ready to hand out hugs and smiles. Any toys we gave to them do not come close in value to the love they showed us! 

After church we went for a short walk. Led by Kelly, our Haitian guide, we headed for the Voodoo caves. 

The trail was very picturesque. It twisted between cactus fences, 

and farmer's gardens. 

Flowers dotted our path.

At the mouth of the voodoo caves we had a beautiful view of the valley below. 

Voodoo is an occult religion, and requires sacrifices. 

Some of those sacrifices had been executed inside the cave.


There were also writings on the wall. Apparently this had to do with blessing and cursing.

To get out of the cave some of us climbed through a steep shaft instead of going back the way we came in. In snowboarding levels it would be equal to a black diamond! It was quite the adrenaline rush climbing up that shaft knowing that if you fell you would crush the person beneath you! 

What we did not know was that while we were climbing up the shaft a kind tarantula was hiding in a crevice, patiently waiting for us to pass. It only crawled out when our guide, who took up the rear stuck his hand in the crevice where he was hiding! For those who do not know, a tarantula is a spider the size of a man’s palm! 
  20 minutes later we were back at the mission. 
  After a lunch of soup and bread, we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing; taking some naps and reading books. Some of the little kids wandered around outside. 
  That night we experienced one of the most magnificent thunderstorms I have ever seen. Lightning zigzagged across the sky as thunder boomed echoing over the mountainous landscape. 

Some of the flashes were so bright they were branded on our retinas for minutes! Our vocabulary expressing the sights we were seeing consisted mostly of "Wow!"