Source Matelas

This morning (Tuesday) we went to the village of Source Matelas (pronounced Sus Matla).  We met with the contact at the former location of their children’s camp.  Children’s camp is the equivalent of a VBS that meets once a week; they play games, have story time, and get to meet in safe atmosphere.

Now I say it was the former location of their children’s camp because after a strong windstorm a good deal of the structure was damaged.  They no longer held the camp there for fear of the roof falling on the 150+ kids who meet there every Wednesday.  What we saw was a couple broken support posts, what remained of a shredded palm leaf roof, and some rickety benches.  At this time the contact told us about the situation and asked us what we could do to help.  We offered to come back to repair what we could knowing it would be a temporary solution…but we also would put in the suggestion that a more permanent structure be placed on Mission of Hope’s project list.

Our ministry time in the village of Source Matelas consisted of the typical wandering around talking and praying for the people who want it.  But I didn’t participate this time in building relationships with the adults.  This was because a pair of kids had me wrapped around their fingers.  Everywhere our group went to minister, these two would follow holding my hand.  And no matter what was happening, they would quietly play with me a little distance away from ministry.  I felt like they were my ministry today.

Little Jenai especially would chat with me the whole time in Creole and even try to get me to sing…which sometimes happened.  At one point we came to the village’s what source; a spring that our contact told us would be clean if not for the runoff from the farms in the mountains.  In this spring I saw people bathing, doing laundry, and filling water jugs.  Jenai got in beside a man washing his shoes.  She scooped the water in her hands and drank.  All I could do was pray for her little belly not to get upset.

At this moment, I thought about it.  Being an Environmental Science teacher, I always talked about runoff and how it affected nature.  Because we treat the water so much in America, our pollution hurts us a lot less.  We try to save the environment for the environment’s sake.  BUT HERE: runoff kills people.  The way they treat the earth comes right back at them…and I didn’t know how to interpret this.  I guess I still am processing a little.

After lunch at the compound we went back to the children’s camp location with tools and many laborers.  We were able to patch the roof, build a couple new support beams, and even get a couple benches build/fixed.  We were told that the camp would meet tomorrow for the first time in a while in our newly repaired location.  I am overjoyed.  We were invited back there for the occasion.