Market Experience, Leger VBS and Nelson’s Story
Monday is Market day in the area. The market is in a small village about 1.5 miles away. Dozens of vendors and hundreds of shoppers come from miles away to buy/sell almost anything. Think farmers market, except there are no other stores out here. So think pop up Walmart too.
One could buy almost anything. Fruits and vegetables, live animals and fresh meat and smoked fish, cloth and clothing and shoes, prepared food and drink, all kinds of cooking supplies like rice, beans, bullion, salt, souvenirs, and on and on.
Our team split into three groups, each with an interpreter, some cash and instructions-buy as much tomatoes, garlic and bullion as possible. We spent an hour haggling with vendors that were selling from mats on the ground or from small stands or from wheel barrels. We also had a few people following us around trying to convince us to buy other deals. It can get overwhelming at times, but our team did so well.
Some groups made it to the bread factory. This is a business on the edge of the market that’s open 6 days a week providing on product, fresh baked bread. The owner gets up at 2am to start mixing the dough by hand. At 10am the last of the loaves were in his huge oven.
After market we walked back to the house with new cement floor and gifted the family with some food and a blanket.
After lunch, Deb led an injection demonstration and hands-on practice to first and second year nursing students.
In the afternoon the team went to the Leger community for a VBS. Leger has a small Christian School and a church that Christ Community has supported for several years. It was a sweet reunion with Principal Marcel. We sang, performed a skit of Jonah, taught a memory verse and did a craft. After VBS we fed the kids a meal on the plates purchased by the Orbit kids several years ago. We were amazed at the transformation in the health of the kids. All of the 100 kids looked in good health. And their academic performance has also greatly improved. Kids just can’t learn on empty stomachs. Thanks to everyone who supports UCI, the gospel is being shared and real physical needs are being met.
This evening we heard a powerful testimony from a former witch doctor, Nelson. His story will be featured in coming blog.
Thanks again for following along and praying for us and our friends in Haiti. We have so many other stories that we just couldn’t tell here, so please ask us any time you see us when we get back!
Shoes for sale at Market
Cement floor looks great
Deb teaching Nurses
Photos from VBS at Leger
Water source for Jonah’s Storm
