Monday was a "day out" for our New Work Fellowship (NWF) team. They chose to go to the beach and enjoy bonding with one another there. Town (Port-au-Prince) has been hectic, there has been rioting in the streets related to the presidential election, there has been allot of traffic, and you can buy souvenirs at the beach, so we chose to load up after the Gran Moun feeding program and clinic were over and head to the beach.
We got to the beach around 10:30 a.m., unloaded 23 people, and poured onto the beach. The waves were crashing, the sky was clear blue, and there was a nice breeze blowing. It didn't take long for the souvenir sellers to scope us out and bring their ware over to sell to the team. A few glanced at the items, but most headed to the water. It was a bit different this time when we arrived at the waters edge. Like I mentioned, the waves were crashing against the beach, it appeared to be high tide, the water was murky, and the water was a teensie bit chilly.
We entered the water. Once immersed in the grandness of the ocean, the water didn't seem so chilly. We played, we jumped to keep the waves from engulfing us, we laughed and joked. We enjoyed the time we had together. Lunch time rolled around and we headed up to the restaurant to eat. They had the food prepared and ready for us after our drink orders were taken and delivered (we had ordered when we arrived at the beach, so they could have it ready at 1 p.m.). We enjoyed our meal and fellowship and headed back for the beach.
The waves seemed to be more fierce. I prayed for safety for everyone and watched with caution as some played in the water. I decided, for my own sanity, that I would watch by the waters edge. The waves were tossing them around like rag dolls and so I continued to pray. I saw some get slammed into the shore line, get up with confusion and then a grin, and head back out for more of a beating. It didn't make allot of sense to me, but I continued to pray silently in my head and watch.
While they played in the water, others were on the beach haggling with the merchandisers for the best bargain. We decided that the water was getting too rough and so we headed up to join the hagglers. I was thankful for that. Although it was enjoyable to watch them have fun playing in the water, I was glad they were done and had remained safe. Shopping time was about over, so we decided to get packed up to head home. That took a good 30 minutes or so and we all met out at the vehicle.
Packed into two vehicles like loose sardines, we headed down the road. In our vehicle, we enjoyed small talk. In the vehicle in front of me, I am told they were doing the same along with some singing. We talked about driving in Haiti, and we talked about the good time we had just had, and we talked about the fact that I must not have been paying close attention to Kevin and his vehicle because I didn't notice when we weren't behind him any more. I was thankful I knew the way home and that it wasn't that important that Kevin was further ahead of me.
Next thing I know, we were traveling through a small town called Source Matelas, and my phone rang....
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