Village Bible Church || Aurora | Indian Creek | Sugar Grove | IL

David: Bonswa!

Emily: That means “Good Afternoon” in Creole.

David: We’ve seen many eye opening things here in our visit and travels in Haiti. For example on Sunday a lot of cool things happened. Sunday morning we went to church in the ministry compound. One of our team members, Chris, whose name actually in Creole actually means “Christ” is one that we have to be careful of and actually say “Christopher” because it might sound offensive if we say it flippantly. He spoke and gave a sermon that Sunday to the church. It’s encouraging because there were over 1,000 people in attendance and they were all worshipping God so fervently. There was so much joy despite the circumstance. The pastor of the church lost two of his children, yet in this service he urged the congregation to repent if they had doubted God or had not kept on believing that God was In control He is loving. So on Sunday we learned more sayings in Creole and practicing them with people. Such as:

Emily: “Bonjour” means “good morning” and…

David: “Bon swa” means “good afternoon” and “s'ak Pase” means “what’s up?”

Emily: Then you answer with “map bule” which literally means “I am burning” and a lot of the Haitians believe that life is hard and you just have to get through it. “I am burning” can also mean “I am getting by.”

David: Or “I am fighting” because a lot of the things they are trying to do is just provide food. If they have a really luxurious life then they can send their kids to school and allow them to have an education.

Emily: Before the earthquake the unemployment rate was 90% and now after it is 95%. So the people who were not employed to have food and to send their kids to school would be the ideal of a good life.

David: Well, on Sunday night members from the team, including us, got to share a testimony of what God is doing in our lives with about 800 people who were attending the evening service.

Emily: It was an interesting concept because our team leader, Welson, who is Haitian, had to translate into Creole for us. So that was an interesting experience that none of us had ever experienced before.

David: It’s amazing to see the people who know God in Haiti still worshipping God despite things literally crashing down.  They don’t have houses and maybe have one pair of clothes.  It’s just beautiful to see.