The woods are alive with the sound of drumming: Haitian church in the woods

Walking through an open gate we followed a dirt pathway into the woods until we saw a rock-lined circle where many people were already congregated, sitting and lying on spread out tarps and blankets.Tarps hung from trees, providing church practitioners with much appreciated shade on a hot day. We removed our shoes, placing them in the care of a friendly shoe attendant.


We took our seats. Generally the church is gender segregated but today men and women were already seated in the same areas. There were two concentric circles and in the center of the innermost circle there was an alter where a female priest led the service.


There was also a sick woman laying within the inner circle for prayer and healing. My dad had the two doctors from our group examine her. They felt she might have the mumps.


The service began with people introducing themselves, telling others what brought them this Friday morning to church in the woods. Several people took turns standing up and many told miraculous stories of how they had survived the earthquake in Haiti. This one woman said that she heard a voice telling her to go to the market place. While she was there, the earthquake struck. She survived but all 16 people left in her house perished. She says that she was having a hard time finding where her house had been because everything was so flattened. She met some nuns in a field who assisted her. The cathedral had been destroyed.


After people had shared their stories, the singing and dancing began!


Haitians congregate to worship in the woods.

It was a seriously amazing church service that I will never forget.