Joy and Pain…
Posted by admin on July 27, 2014
Life is filled with joy and pain. Many times those feelings occupy the same day or week. Last week Steph’s sister, her husband and their kids all came for a visit. I picked them up from the airport in a city an hour from here. When we returned, I got a call from Edmon (my main translator here) and he informed me that his mother-in-law had died unexpectedly. He had left work early to go take care of all the arraignments. He was clearly very saddened by the circumstance. His mother-in-law had lived with his family for many years and had been sick off and on.
My sadness soon gave way to panic the moment I remembered that we had a class that same night, and that I would need a translator. And it was not just any class, our first class for our second group of students, so I knew I could not cancel. As not to lose momentum and the confidence of these new students we decided to go ahead as scheduled. Pastor Clebert and I began to call everyone we knew who could translate. Nothing. We could not find anyone. So I looked at Clebert and said, “M’gen yon moun” (I have someone). And he said, “Ki moun?” (Who) I looked at him and smiled and said, “Ou menm” (You). He gave me a big smile of satisfaction and off he went to prepare himself to teach his first session at The Hispaniola Institute of Theology. He was visibly over joyed with the prospect.
The students trickled in as usual and we started our class on time. Clebert explained that Edmon would not be with us, but that he would be teaching in my place. Some of the students were visibly disappointed. But as the class progressed through the first hour into the second, the students were clearly encouraged by Pastor Clebert’s teaching. His communication was clear and confident. He stayed on track very well. And he did a good job of time management as he taught.
This was a sweet experience for me. I have invested in Clebert for the last 3 years, and to see him flourish in this type of discipleship setting was a joy. I know that his growth is God’s work and I am glad to experience it. It was also a special moment for HIT. The ultimate goal is for indigenous leaders to lead and oversee the institute, for them to be the lecturers, administration, presidents, etc. It was a sweet foretaste of what we believe is to come.
The next day we had the same issue for our Saturday morning class. One consolation was that one of our students in the Saturday morning class is Haitian-American and can translate English to Creole. Once again the students trickled in and we stared on time. When we began the student who could translate for us had not yet arrived. I waited out front, praying for his arrival. I asked God to be gracious to help us with the class, to provide clear communication. As I prayed, it was clear he was not coming. So I made a decision, I would teach in Creole. I had never done that before, but I knew that I could get them into a text of Scripture and let God do the rest. So when Clebert was done with his daily introduction and prayer for the class, we began. We went to John 3 and practiced our skills in observation of the text. Myself and 8 students studied Jesus conversation with Nicodemus for 3 hours only using Haitian Creole. It was a lot of fun. The students were encouraging to me in my ability to speak their language. Needless to say by the time we ended class I was exhausted and ready to have my translator back!
Please pray…
For Edmon and his family as they morn their loss.
For the students at HIT, that they would grow in their understanding of God’s word and the gospel.
For our continue fundraising for the work we do.