From my journal, Sunday, February 14, 2010
A third day in a row we are wakened to the sound of the faithful in song outside our jail. This morning in the midst of the Creole language comes the familiar tune of a song I have sung many times over. Then as clear as a Sunday morning worship service in my native language is the entire song, sung as though being preached to me…
O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!
Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
O’er us sin no more hath dominion—
For more than conqu’rors we are!
His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
Renee continues to take up a healthy space on my thinking today. I’m thankful to You, Lord, to have heard that David has been able to be home some of this time and Renee’s dad. Renee is stronger than I am, yet I’m thankful for those who have been at her side.
As the day moved slower than all the rest, it became apparent around 2PM that we would not have enough food or water to supply the need for the day. We had only eaten minimally for breakfast and all had drank the last of their water, except two bottles still in the women’s cell. We knew we would receive the one required meal now coming in every day from the mandate of the Geneva Convention rules.
We prayed about the need. At around 2:30PM our lawyer showed up with two large bottles of water and two pizzas. Within 10 minutes of his leaving our daily supply of rice and chicken showed up.
Our prayer of thanks for our food was sweet. The supply of food fed not only us but about four other inmates as well who do not get regular visits from family. This provision reminds me of a caring God who is engaged in every part of my life and the life of all people.
We heard from our lawyer today that news about Jorge is causing trouble for Laura. He expects our release on Wednesday or Thursday but not sure about Laura and maybe even Charisa.
This evening we spend time in praise again and then the routine dialog as we prepare to go to bed is rich. We talk about many things; favorite foods, jobs, family, but I enjoy the talk about Scripture the most.
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This picture is a picture of some of the song sheets we had to sing with. I call it our Haiti Jail Hymnbook. There were several days that the women had access to the internet while in jail. Some of them had their mobile phones and a laptop computer with internet access in the cell with them. Until the guards discovered this we primarily used this to look up the words to songs of our faith. We would all decide we wanted to sing a song and so they would look it up; Nikki would then write the song on paper, then pass it through the thin space at the door between our cells, and then we had the words to all of the verses.
But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.
At the time, nearly five years ago, Caleb was a well respected lawyer in Topeka, Kansas.
