Hope for Haiti: "Bondye merite louwanj"

"Bondye merite louwanj"-Our God is Mighty to Save

These precious words and many more were sung today in our worship service at the outdoor church. Hundreds of Haitian people were crowded into this space prepared to worship the Lord passionately. It was such a blessing to sit amongst this body of believers who sing to and praise the same God that we do. The passion that was exuded from every Haitian's mouth was overwhelming. The praises lifted were songs we were familiar with such as Mighty to Save, I am a Friend of God, and This is the Air I Breathe. The majority of the songs were sung in Creole but there were portions where EVERYONE sang the beautiful melodies in English as one united army worshiping God. It was a remarkable and moving experience. Once the hour long worship time ended, a Haitian pastor spoke all in Creole for over an hour. (Him and Mark have a lot in common!) We were able to follow along with some of the scripture verses he shared and just sit back to soak in the moments.

Earlier, we were able to go on a walking tour of the MOH compound. The facilities on campus include: a school K-13th grade, a clinic, a hospital, a food warehouse, prosthetic/rehabilitation center, a church, and a repair garage (the Depot). Our tour guides shared heartbreaking testimonies from the aftermath of the earthquake such as the thousands of people who required an amputation of at least one limb. Many of these patients had to be carried up a steep hill on a stretcher to a dome tent in order to have the limb removed - WITHOUT anesthesia. Through this unfathomable situation, hope still came through. These patients are given the amazing opportunity of receiving a free prosthetic ($4,000 a piece) that is custom made for their individual needs! What an amazing way to show the love of Christ by offering these Haitian people who survived great turmoil that there can be a hopeful future for them. We were told that one man had been crawling around on the ground for nearly 2 years prior to being able to receive a prosthetic!! The food warehouse was simply framing only one year ago and now it is completed and fully functional with food storage and office space. Out of this food warehouse comes a supply of food to feed 69,000 people per day! It was very humbling to stand before this beautiful structure knowing the impact its goods are making every single day in the name of Christ.

For supper, we had bugs. Oh, and chicken too.

Later in the day, we were able to travel to some surrounding villages where we were able to love on some dear children. This was truly our highlight of the day as half dressed children began climbing up our legs or jumping onto our backs. Despite the fact that their clothes were tattered and they were covered in dirt, their smiles and unconditional love were contagious. Each of us had at least one child wrapped around our necks or holding our hands as we walked around to take in the sight. There are still tent cities remaining from the earthquake but we saw some of the new homes being built that we will start painting tomorrow.

We ended the night with Lacey standing on the rooftop taking around 800 consecutive photos of a beautiful lighting storm over the ocean. We would share these breathtaking photos with you...but lightning is faster than Lacey.....

The Blogettes