Hope for Haiti: August 2013

Yesterday morning, we followed our usual schedule of VBS...you pretty much know the drill by now. :) We were told that in this past week while being in Haiti, there have been 117 salvations from Bible school. It was a sweet sight to see all the little ones kneeling down at the altar praying to receive Christ. Many Haitian leaders then took them to a separate room and continued praying with them. How amazing it is to know that we were able to be a small part of that this week!!

Right after Bible school, some of us took a tour of the food warehouse, which ships out food for 69,000 people a day. Here, we had our first blast of air conditioning for the week! 73 degrees never felt so nice! The warehouse was packed with boxes upon boxes of food from several organizations helping to end hunger. It was amazing to see how Mission of Hope and other organizations are working together to feed the people here.

The highlight of our afternoon included jump ropes and stamp pads! We went back to Cabaret village to play with many of the kiddos in a variety of sports and activities. Kids were playing basketball, football, frisbee, jump roping, and kicking around a soccer ball. Although there was a language barrier, we were able to really bond with all the kids by covering them from head to toe in stamps and braiding t-shirt bracelets. They seemed to just flock over in an instant in order to join all the stamping and braiding fun! A special thanks to Amber, Sarah, and Sandy for contributing the supplies needed to put huge smiles all over the childrens' faces. As we were leaving the village, Mark and our interpreter Johnny, began talking to a little boy named Jordan. As Johnny translated, Jordan accepted Jesus Christ into his heart along the streets we were walking along!! What an amazing and memorable way to wrap up our time in the village.

This morning we hopped out of bed (haha, just kidding...we're too tired for that) to enjoy our day of relaxation. We loaded up and rode to the nearby beach resort Moulin Sur Mer. We spent the day swimming, kayaking, laying in the hammock, and enjoying the sunshine. Susan and Ken both had their first experience with kayaking and didn't seem to hate it too much! For lunch we were able to enjoy a huge buffet with chicken, rice, pork chops, mac and cheese, and chocolate cake among many other yummy things. After pigging out, we made our way to the nearby museum. We learned about the history of Haiti, which is actually pretty close to America's! Basically, we looked at lots of old things that we weren't allowed to touch. Although a few of us returned sunburnt (some more than others!), we definitely enjoyed our last day here!

As we start to pack and wrap up our time here, we're looking back on this past week and how it has impacted us. To be honest, we're also looking forward to a possible trip back here in the future! We came here to give blessings, but we were also blessed by the people here. It has been a beautiful week filled with beautiful people, beautiful places, and beautiful relationships formed.

One verse in particular reminds us of our time here:
John 15:5 -"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."

Each and every moment we have experienced this week has reminded us of God's true faithfulness and love for every single child in this world no matter the circumstance. Song lyrics came to our minds as we continue reflecting on our dear time here in Haiti:

We are the saints, we are the children, we've been redeemed, we've been forgiven. WE ARE THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF OUR GOD!!

Until our next time in Haiti,
the Blogettes