Center for Biblical Training

After a long day of traveling and meet and greets we arrived back at the Center for Biblical Training in Galman du Plaa. We stayed at the visitors quarters located at the Preachers College. It was apartment style housing with running water, frig, stove, and electricity. While it wasn't the Ritz Carlton it was a nice place to stay and I enjoyed my stay there. Many Haitians don't have the luxuary of electrcity, clean running water, bathrooms, showers, refrigerators, microwaves, or even a stable house. We had no television, internet acess, and my cell phone didn't have any service but I enjoyed the time away from modern technology. At night or during free time during the day we usualy just sat and talked. There was a plethora of National Geographic magazines and I spent most of my free time reading those or the Kreyol English dictonary we had handy.



David was resonsible for teaching the Preaching students the book of Revelation, so during the day Sarah, John, and I had a painting project to work on. We were responsible for painting the outside of the living quarters and below dormatories. Painting wasn't that bad of a deal, I could think of a million other jobs I wouldn't want to do, so I was happy to lend a hand. We first started out by scrubbing the outside clean (which took about a full day) then we gave the outside a fresh coat of paint. We also painted the inside of the apartment across from ours.

Meeting the Preaching students was also something I enjoyed. They were some really nice guys. My sisters Kami and Kasi sent some dress ties down with me to give to them. I was also albe to hook each one of them up with a spiral notebook for their studies and a toothbrush also. I enjoyed conversing with them and playing cards. They taught me and John Haitian card games and each night we went down and played cards till lights out.

Later in the visit I got to play a couple matches of football (soccer) with the Preaching students and that definatley was a good time. I have played baseball my whole life and just recently starting playing soccer this past fall. Soccer is the main sport in Haiti and they love to play. Even though I'm new to the sport I managed to score a goal and had several assists.

The experience of staying at the Center for Biblical Training was great. The thing I most enjoyed was the peace you get from being there and away from everything we have here in the states. No TV, phone, or internet. You really just get time to sit, relax, and think. I frequently would just sit and admire the beautiful surrounding landscape. I also enjoyed the rice and beans we ate everyday. While it did get old eating the samething for lunch everyday it was good.

Meeting the Preaching student was a great honor of mine. As I learned about the role the church plays in Haiti I gained a great admiration and respect for good church leaders in Haiti. In Haiti the government does little or nothing for the people, millions of dollars in aid go to the government but yet Haiti's people still live in extreme poverty. When I was in Haiti I saw no government run aid or support for the people. I did see tons of support and programs for Haitians run by missionary groups and churches. While I don't consider myslef a religious person by anymeans I do support and appreciate all the work missionary and church groups do in Haiti. Leaving the Preaching students I tried to convey how proud of them I am. I know that when Haitians are suffering or in need of extreme help they go to the church for support and I know the church does as much as it can for the people. In my opinion the preaching students and leaders of the church are the true leaders of Haiti. These men do nothing but support a progressive Haiti yerning for change. Meeting these men truely was a honor I'll never forget.