"I'm trading my sorrows...for the joy of the Lord"

My eyes fluttered open and I sleepily turned my head to look out the window from my bed. Sunlight and blue skies filtered in and I jumped up, immediately awake from my excitement. Rebekah and I quickly dressed and ran outside where we saw some of our other friends who joined us, rejoicing for the beautiful weather. Not a rain cloud in sight, we all piled into two large vans and set off on our waterfall adventure.

We drove out of our compound and immediately onto a rocky, dirt road. For almost an hour we wound through the mountains, passing small patches of houses here and there. When we would climb to the top of a mountain crest, the view was absolutely breathtaking. Behind us we could see the turquoise ocean stretched out on the horizon, and ahead luscious greenery and majestic hills. There was one large river we had to cross, and people were washing clothes while children were swimming in the water. Climbing the last mountain the road was so steep, I was afraid we would begin to slide backwards. The village that contained the waterfall was adorable, nestled in the mountains among the colorful flowers and trees. Their houses were painted in a variety of bright colors, and some with shapes painted on aswell. One house we passed had a white outline of a heart with the words "I love you" in the middle.

Once we arrived, we each paid one American dollar to enter a gate and follow a long flight of stairs down to the waterfall. First we heard the sound of rushing water, crashing on rocks below. Then we saw them, majestically framed against the deep green of the surrounding jungle. We climbed along the side of them until we reached the top. At first timid, we entered the falls, the rushing water swirling around our feet as we balanced on the rocks. A huge boulder dug into the side of the waterfall and we climbed up it and into a cave. We climbed to the opening at the top of the cave and stuck our head out into the middle of the waterfall. The water was so powerful and it beat down upon our backs with amazing strength. Rebekah, another friend of ours, and myself began to follow the waterfall down the mountain. We went down for quite awhile until we reached this area where the water became more peaceful. A bunch of banana trees stood in a cluster and streams from the waterfalls danced among them. Between the broad banana tree leaves, a scene of perfect wilderness was painted before us. Creation in its most perfect and pure state. I remember in that moment thinking, "I want to remember this forever. The sights, the smells, the sounds. The cool water trinkling over my feet, hiding in the shade of the banana trees. And the rushing water pouring from the heavens, attacking my body with all of its strength. I want to live in this moment forever."

From the waterfalls, we drove to an ocean resort in a more wealthy part of Haiti. The water was beautiful with the mountains creeping almost to the shore line and bright colored flowers speckling the shore. On one of the verandas there was a dance floor with a DJ playing popular music and another extending into the ocean with tables for eating. We walked to the eating veranda where we laid out our belongings. Some of us had brought snorkeling equipment and the boys convinced me to go with them to the reef even though I told them it looked like "shark weather". We jumped off the veranda into the water. It was so incredibly warm, as if we were jumping into a giant salty bath. The reef was right below us and we followed little fish around and occasionally swam down to the bottom to get a closer look. Since I was the only girl in the water at the time, and I'm a little wary when snorkeling because of my fear of sharks, the guys took full advantage of their opportunity to torment me by sneaking up and grabbing my flippers, laughing hysterically everytime I screamed. A storm had slowly crept across the skies and the water began to become choppy. Rain started sprinkling and thunder boomed in the sky, but we kept snorkeling until the first crashes of lightning began to fall.

Up on the veranda I sat with some of my new friends on the ledge. Feet hanging over the water, watching the storm, we sat enjoying fresh mangoes we had bought from road vendors on the way there. Since we do not get to hear music often at our compound, Rebekah and I took the opportunity to go and dance to the music. I taught her how to rumba and salsa and we danced together, much to the delight of the Haitian onlookers who laughed at us. We soon began to get sweaty from the dancing so I ran back to the eating place and jumped in with one of my friends. We tried to coerce Rebekah to jump in with us but she refused. We managed to get her to wade in the water and then we attacked her and dragged her in. For the rest of the time there we all swam around and jumped and flipped off things into the water, laughing and smiling the whole time. Unfortunately, our time there had to end and we began the journey home.

When we got back there was an evening service. One of the Haitian native workers here is a musician and has his own choir who came to do a performance. They were all different ages and absolutely fabulous. God's spirit is definately moving in this place. It was so amazing to be singing with others from a whole different culture and in different languages, the same praises to the same almighty God. Even here in Haiti, where there is so much destruction and darkness, we could gather together under the shelter of a pavillion to sing his praises into the night air. The rest of the evening was rather uneventful compared to the excitement and adventures of the day. Tomorrow begins another week, and we have no idea what adventures are in store for us, we only know that whatever God has planned will be wonderful, and we are excited and blessed to be a part of it.

 With love from Haiti...