Happy Easter!

This Sunday we got up at 4:30 am to head to Cap Haitian for an Easter sunrise service with the English fellowship that meets there. We saw the sun rise on the way there, and it was a beautiful morning. The service was held at the school Eli and Anna used to attend, and as you can see from the pictures it is a lovely spot!




After the service, we ate a delicious pitch-in/potluck breakfast. There were too many good things to choose from but that is our only complaint. In the afternoon we ate a really good lunch with the Thedes, and pieces of this masterpiece cake!



While the churches in our area had services all weekend, and we enjoyed hearing their singing drift up the hill throughout the days, we were kept up on Saturday night because of the loud drumbeats and chants. Kris has told us that the time right before Easter is normally an active time for voodoo, since Christ's death is a victory in their eyes. We were glad not to hear much on Good Friday, and hope it was because of after-earthquake change! We know there are many who were deeply affected spiritually by the earthquake. As Saturday night came, we faced the reality that voodoo is still happening here, close enough to us that we could hear the voices and drumming above the sound of our fan. We haven't seen any voodoo services or activity up close (thankfully, though at times we are curious, we know it's not something to get close to even for cultural understanding or any other reasons) but we hear it and see flags and other evidence of activity on the roads. It reminds us to pray and reminds us that though we don't feel in physical danger because of it, the spiritual battle in this country is real and close.

On another note, we have been really loving the beautiful spot we live in lately. The weather is awesome right now. It is warm, breezy, and not stifling yet. As you can see we've been sitting outside more and trying to take it all in. The hillside shows what we see when we look straight ahead from outside our house.
This afternoon we give an exam to our first level class, hope they do well! And hope they don't try to cheat like our first class last semester did--ugh! This time we are going to space them out so far that they will have to yell to share answers! They are such a great class though, and we will miss them.
Have a great week, Jesus is ALIVE!