WHAT OUR HEARTS NEEDED

Henry Van Dyke once said, "A friend is what the heart needs all the time."

With some friends, no matter how much we'd love to have them ALL THE TIME, we have to settle for a week now and then. But when we get those weeks ... man, we try to make every moment count!

We just came off a week long visit from Melissa's great friend, Keri, and her daughter, Anna (who happens to be our Hannah's great friend), and her son, Matthew (who is Caleb's great friend). Simultaneously, my great friend from Asbury Seminary days, Tim, visited with his friend, Clint.

It was an absolute FriendFest! ™

It was the first time to Haiti for all but Keri, so we had a lot of "showing around" to do.

Here's Tim giving a motorcycle a little test drive:

Of course, we put everybody to work along the way. Tim and Clint shared music with all our younger Cowman students throughout their first full day.

They even came up to my middle school writing class and put the students' creativity to use in writing an original song.

Meanwhile, Keri and her kids went to town on Cowman's library, which was needing some serious cleaning and a fresh coat of paint.

All our OMS friends were happy to have Tim and Clint lead some worship time during our midweek prayer meeting.

On Thursday, we all played hooky from school to visit the Citadelle - always an amazing experience.

Matthew is a goofball.

We actually made it back to school by the end of the day so that Tim and Clint could meet with our worship team (and Matthew) to practice some music for chapel.

Friday morning came quickly.

The music was great and then Keri shared a fantastic message with all the students about being a good steward of the time God has given us ... by always putting God first.

That evening, after school, we hosted a special event for the middle school and high school students. Tim and Clint and Keri provided music and games, Melissa brought the hotdogs and smores, and I managed to build a successful bonfire out of rain-soaked wood.

Saturday morning brought a trip to Daniel's neighborhood. 

He had a lot to share about his hopes and dreams for the kids of his neighborhood ... and the near total lack of resources to realize them.

We had promised a beach day to our friends - because we HAVE to show off the natural beauty of this island - and the sunshine did not disappoint.

By this point in the week, everyone was needing a little down time.

Well rested, we headed Sunday morning into Cap Haitien to worship at Pastor Joseph's church. 

Tim and Clint jumped into the morning's music line up with ease.

I had the privilege of preaching, so we brought along my number 1 translator, Mikken.

After service, Pastor Joseph showed us the second floor - a work in progress - where he hopes to move the sanctuary someday.

On our way home, we made a stop at The Potter's House. Tim and Clint got to share their musical gifts there as well. And these kids LOVE music and singing.

After a quick late lunch, we turned around and went to Radio4VEH where Tim and Clint once again led music, this time for our English Bible Fellowship.

Back home, Tim organized a quick video for YouTube of his most popular song at Cowman for the week - a little earworm about God's Word. 

Take a look at the finished product, filmed in front of our house, featuring Guest Musician, Caleb - on trash can:

We had to squeeze one last thing in on Sunday - since every friend was leaving the next day - and that was a little trip up the mountainside to Johnny and Ruysdael's neighborhood.

Monday morning was sad - even by Monday morning standards. None of us were too happy to be saying goodbye. We put everyone to work for the morning back in the library since the ride to the airport wasn't leaving until noon.

And to be candid, when the moment of departure came, I couldn't get the words out to tell Tim - or any of the others - how much the visit meant to me and to our whole family. I honestly tried but it was one of those moments when you become conscious of some odd physical connection between your jaw and your tear ducts ... so I kept my mouth closed. But I'm saying it now, at least:

There are a lot of long days here and daily frustrations, big and small. And even five years in, there are bouts of homesickness and questioning. And sometimes you just want a friend from "back home" to lean on. 

You gave us that. You gave ME that.

AND there are moments here of elation, surprise and pure joy. And times when God feels as present as the breeze on your cheek. Honestly, THOSE moments often generate a similar desire to find a friend from "back home" to SHARE them with. Those moments keep us going. 

And you all brought a bunch of those moments with you to add to the ones already here.

You are what our hearts needed. You are what my heart needed. And you will likely never know what a gift your visit was. 

(Interesting ... I just discovered that my typing fingers are also connected to my tear ducts...)

(There is something beautifully metaphorical about this photo. When we reached the Citadelle, at the top of the mountain, it wasn't long until clouds rolled in and enveloped us all, obscuring the view. The only thing Caleb and Samuel could see clearly was their friend, Matthew, right beside them. Those cloudy times are when our hearts need friends the most.)