Morning: Awoke to another beautiful day in Haiti and we were especially excited because we get to have Sunday worship in church with the children today. Started the day off well with pancake and bacon breakfast (kudos to the cook – Mike Morris) at the guest house before we left for the orphanage at 8:00am. On the way to the orphanage in Jeremie, we drove through local neighborhoods passing and waiving at the locals that were waiving at us as well. Along the road, we saw some families in their Sunday best walking to their local church, some people riding their pack mules, some women carrying large baskets or containers on their head, a family completely naked bathing next to the street at the neighborhood water spicket, passing a UN (United Nations) compound and several UN vehicles along the way, and we stopped to buy cell phone minutes from a local house on the side of the road that had a flag hanging on one of their trees signifying they were a Digicell representative. Driving up the mountain of the orphanage is always a challenge for the bus but we made it again today as we sang our traditional chant/song of encouragement — “Ole’, Ole’, Ole’ …”.
Sunday morning church service was a treat to see how the Haitians worship. They decorated their church building with flowers, cloth wrappings around the support columns and the podium. The Haitians were dressed up in their finest clothes. They are very reverent yet passionate as they love to sing, dance and raise their hands in praise (seems genuine praise is universal in how it is expressed). They have a small choir of the older children and some adults, and also a band with drums, bongos, keyboard and guitar. After the music minister was done with praise, Dou Dou (our body guard, bus driver, translator and friend) spoke briefly, recognized Long Hollow Church being present and introduced Brian Jackson who spoke to the congregation about how Haiti and the orphanage has changed his life and has deepened his faith. It was very touching and brought many of us to tears. The kids were so orderly and stayed in their pews until after the offering at which time they got up and came to sit with us (next to us or in our laps) for the rest of the service.
Lunch: After church service, we spent time loving on the children for a while before heading back to the guest house for lunch and to change into play clothes to come back to the orphanage. As usual, some of the local boys from the neighborhood surrounding the guest house were waiting for our return outside of the gate. Before we ate lunch, some of us walked down to the ocean with these boys to watch them swim. It was beautiful seeing the waves crash on the rocks and fill up the swim holes that the boys would wade and swim in. The boys were so nice and polite. They held our hands, guided and walked us down the rocky cliff to the beach. We enjoyed talking and laughing with them as they swam.
Afternoon: After lunch, we went back to the orphanage to spend the afternoon. Played hard all day with the kids (soccer, threw football, parachute game, hopscotch, patty-cake, thumb wrestling, karate, tossing children up in the air, piggy-back rides, chasing each other, etc.). Watched children be creative by sliding down a concrete hill on a plastic gas can while the day before it was a garbage can. Anything they find they think of ways to use it. While many want you to play hard, some just want to be held and loved on. I had both a girl and a boy today fall asleep in my arms as I held and sang to them. While kids are playing, the house moms are hand washing the kids and their own clothes. You may see clothes, underwear and bras hanging from bushes, trees, on lines or laid on top of tin roofs. As you look around, you will see and hear livestock throughout the campus (goats, roosters, chickens, turkeys). The children’s late lunch/early dinner today was special. We had given them bouillon cubes to add a broth/sauce on top of their normal corn and rice mush meal. They loved it! They loaded up their mush into whatever container they could find (pan, bowl, plastic butter cup, upside down frisbee, etc. Some of them take their meal back to their housing bed area and sit on the floor and eat. Many of them eat with their hands while some shared spoons. Was invited to their room to come spend time with them while they ate. Breaks your heart seeing their living conditions — steel bunk beds three rows high with 15 beds in one little room. Yet at the same time, my heart was warmed by the selfless gestures of hospitality from these precious children as they offer to share their meal with me. Children that have nothing, often hungry and food is scarce — thinking of others and not just themselves. I could not help but hug and pat them and let them know how proud I was of them for their sincere gesture. Just another example of how they are being raised well by the Biblical teachings of the orphanage. Got to see a photo of the kids in their school uniforms and was told of how orderly they are as they line up to go to class and gather to raise the flag and say their pledge of allegiance. Late afternoon we were invited to attend the local community concert/play fundraiser at the orphanage church. We had kids in our laps sitting in the pews loving on us and us on them while we laughed together. It was such a joy to see them belly laugh all through the show.
Evening: After the concert, we went back to the guest house to clean up and then Pastor Dony’s house for dinner. We had chicken, beef, rice, pasta, beans and fried plantains. Pastor Dony’s father was a special guest tonight at dinner. He was in from Miami to teach other pastors at the university on a series he was teaching on Revelation. Being Sunday night and because his father is a local legend pastor, he was the guest speaking pastor at the local church tonight. After the team dinner, everyone went to clean up and get back into church clothes to attend the evening service. It was an incredible service with both an excellent praise & worship time and a great message. After the service, the team then came back to the guest house to prep for our next day bible study and craft activities for the children, discuss the next day agenda, and have our team time devotion to wrap up the evening. Thinking of how nasty our feet and the children’s feet were from the dusty/sandy environment, it made me think about how our Lord humbled himself and served his disciples by washing their feet. This inspired a foot washing for the team as an act of love and appreciation for their servant leadership. The team also had a special prayer time for Gerald to be healed of his sickness that he has been struggling with for two days now. We are hoping he feels better in the morning and does not need to fly back home early. The night ended with the team completing the craft art pieces for the next day’s lesson plan. We are all excited to start the week long bible study plan (“The Haiti Love Lesson”) and have been blessed by Robyn’s leadership, passion for children’s ministry and application of her spiritual gifts and abilities. Monday will surely be a great day!
-Troy West