SecondIron's Blog

Sharpening Iron to Live Second

Mountainside Church Service, the Real Way to Worship

After what should have been a restful nights sleep, we got our day started early preparing for mountainside church service. I had been up almost 48 hours, had hit my head pretty good getting in the van (normal behavior when I lack sleep) and my head felt like it would explode. The previous night was a bit restless between the sounds out in the streets beyond the walls of the mission house and the squeaky doors inside the house. However the anticipation and excitement of going to church with the locals in Canaan outweighed the aches, pains and tired eyes. Once we got dressed for church and ate breakfast we once again met up with our translators and driver outside the mission house. The van once again was loaded with rice, beans and pasta this time bagged up for distribution at church that morning. This van was a bit different from the one from the day before, the air conditioning seemed to blow cold, which was a pleasant addition to the ride. We all piled back in, dressed for church and headed back to Canaan. Raw worship on the mountainside in a church with dirt floors is God’s pure beauty. Click To Tweet We bounced back up the mountain to Canaan, even though we had traveled the same roads (so to speak) the day before there were many sites still to be seen. Goats and dogs roamed the streets and roadways of Port-au-Prince and Canaan. People were walking about everywhere and the streets were crowded. We […]

How the Children of Haiti Slowly Soften My Heart

As the men shared scriptures with the children of Haiti, little did I know who was being taught. We shared our assigned stories along with our own testimonials and the way the stories impacted our lives. I spoke about young David and the way he overcame fear much like I had over the past few years. To watch the children as their eyes lit up, they knew the scriptures as well if not better than we did. To break up the bible studies we played soccer with the kids. It was incredible to witness the innocent joy a game of unorganized soccer provided. Even as the heat rose in excess of 100 degrees they did not complain. One of the boys after reciting his favorite bible verse Psalm 23 in its entirety won one of the soccer balls to keep. We promised he would get it when we returned the next day. Purity of the heart exists when the world has not interfered. Click To Tweet As we left Canaan we headed back down the bumpy roads towards Port-au-Prince. We stopped to get something cold to drink at the local grocery store. Their stores are much like ours minus the armed security at the entrance and the clerks that followed your every move. We grabbed some Gatorade and real Cokes (real sugar in glass bottles) and headed towards the mission house. On the way to the mission house we stopped to pick up the pick up the beans, rice and pasta for the next day. […]

How Haiti Has My Heart for Good

Nothing could have prepared me for God’s glory that I found in Haiti. I just got back from my first mission trip and Haiti has my heart for good. I was warned before boarding the plane that my heart would break. I researched and prepared the best I could for this endeavor, all to no avail. Never in a million years could I have prepared for Him in barefooted, hungry but happy faces of the children that awaited. When we got off the plane we met our translators and drivers and headed straight to Canaan, Haiti. Canaan is where the school that I had heard so much about was being built. Traveling through Port-au-Prince, immersed in the sights and sounds only to be experienced. Simple words written here would never give them the due justice they deserved. We all piled into a van, and headed up the rocky mountain roads. Roads is a term used loosely as there is not much of an infrastructure beyond the city limits. We bounced passed homes of the locals, dodged the goats and dogs that ran wild. Traffic in Haiti is a bit different from here in the states, granted they drive on the right side as we do, and the left, middle and anywhere else they like. Street signs are as existent as the streets so you really need to know your way around. As we breached the top of one of the many mountainous hills we could see the school off in the distance. Anticipation was palatable […]