Bonswa tout moun (Good evening everyone),

Today on our tour of Port-au-Prince we were introduced to a variety of religions found in the culture of the country. We saw the ruins of the Catholic Cathedral as well as several Catholic Churches and Baptist Churches. We also took a tour of the Hotel Olffson which is the oldest hotel in Haiti and has roots in the Voodoo Religion. There was a statue of the Medusa, Gedemazaka the spirit God of the dead, and of one of the forefathers of Voodooism. Along with these statues were others depicting scenes from Revelation.

We drove up and down the streets of Port-au-Prince which gave us a better idea of the destruction of the earthquake, the poverty, and the everyday life of the people.The people are busy rebuilding their city and the evidence of their progress is everywhere. Not only did we see new buildings but we saw the Haitian men constructing without the use of our modern machinery and tools we take for granted.

 While we were in the market place, Catey had the opportunity to talk to a man selling his art. The experience started out with him trying to sell her a cross he made, this brought up the question, "Do you know Jesus?" The response was very unexpected! He relayed a very elaborate story detailing his belief in Rastafarianism, which uses Old Testament Judiasm and a belief in Haile Sellaise of Ethiopia as messiah. She tried to explain to him who Jesus really is and why He came to earth but the man would not give Catey a chance to speak. When she was able to explain, he took what she said and twisted it into interpretation of the scriptures that supported his own belief while down playing Christianity. The experience made an impact on Catey and the rest of the team by reminding us that we often neglect to recognize other people's beliefs and that we must be respectful of this in order to share our faith in Christ effectively.

Love from Haiti

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