Prayer meeting

I was invited by Nadege to go to the prayer meeting that she goes to each week. Possibly the invitation was a little bit of a joke since it would all be in (fast) Creole and why would I want to sit through something I don’t understand. But I saw it as a way to get out of the compound and a way to see more of the Haitian world. The meeting is at someone’s house (changes each week) and is very important to a Christian Haitian. There are many, many prayer meetings every week in the compound but I don’t know the people who go. She was a little surprised when I showed up ready to go but I think she was also glad I was coming.

We arrived and sat outside. The doors were open and many people went in but there was no airflow inside and there were too many people for us all to fit anyway. Many hymns were sung and in between hymns they would pray. The host asks for specific prayers—what he or she is praying for that we could also pray for them. Praying in Haiti is not usually a quiet affair. Occasionally the leader will be the only one praying out loud but more often the leader will start and everyone else will get started too. All we can hear as humans is a drone or chant (that can get pretty animated), but we know that God hears each of us individually. There is also lots of call and response. ‘glory to God’, ‘Alleluia’, ‘Thank you Jesus’, ‘Praise the Lord’, etc. and clapping and waving of arms. At the end I had to introduce myself (which is when I went inside and noticed how hot it would have been). I loved the experience and hope to be able to attend again.