We finally received a list of churches from the MEBSH organization here in Haiti. There is a church in Estero, Florida that is eager to start a new relationship with a church in southern Haiti. So eager in fact that they are already on the calendar for early 2009 without knowing who their Sister Church is. So we evaluated the churches on the list and on a bright and sunny Wednesday in late October missionaries Debbie Moses, Gary McLaughlin, and I hit the road with support from two Haitian staff members Jules Gedna and Jean Chery. We were headed for the town of Cherette in the valley before the last mountain on the way to Zanglais.
After driving through a market that was so crowded that we that we drove about 2-3 miles per hour and still ran over a few peoples' veggies for sale, we came to a road so narrow that we had to pull in the outside rearview mirrors in order to pass. At times we were fishtailing back and forth in mud and at others we were driving in a small river.
We finally arrived in Cherette a small village at the foot of a beautiful mountain. About halfway up the mountain you can see a gorgeous waterfall that looks like something out of a T.V. commercial.
The MEBSH Church a Cherette consists of 3 buildings and a school structure. The parsonage is at the front of the area, and off to the left are the school rooms. To say they are rooms is a stretch. Actually there is a foundation and a roof with some wall separating the individual rooms. Behind this area is an old building that used to be the church but has now been divided into a few more rooms for kindergarten. Next to that is a new building that is the church. It is small but in good shape. However the benches inside were in pretty bad shape.
The pastor and his wife were very gracious and happy to see us. After answering all of our questions they insisted that we sit and have some coffee, bread and bananas with them. We had a great time and feel that this is God's choice as our next Sister Church.
It is always exciting when a new Sister Church Partnership gets off the ground. We are looking forward to Estero United Methodist Church's coming visit to the MEBSH Church at Cherette.
At times the road is so narrow we have to fold the rearview mirrors in.
Driving in a river.
Parsonage
School rooms.
Old Church building.
MEBSH Temple of Cherette
Inside the Church building. Most of the benches are being used for school.
This "zoomed in" picture of a waterfall doesn't do justice to God's beauty in the district of Cherette in southern Haiti.
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