Friday, April 22, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Home from Haiti
I am home from Haiti and already miss being there. It is good to be home and especially be with my husband but the time in Haiti was amazing. I did well flying...most of the time. I had a great team and they were all a big help to make sure I had a window seat and that someone from the team was next to me. I was thankful to God for putting a remarkable team together and so very thankful that He chose me to be a part of that team.
This one is loaded with our stuff for the day. We then added about 6 people--it got crowded but it was fun.
The first day we were near the guys building but we were at a tent church and had over 100 kids--it was so much fun. It was very hot in that tent but loving those kids was so very easy. Some tried to teach me Creole which is their language. I have a hard enough time with English so this was more laughing than anything. I really enjoyed it.
The electricity was spotty and it was hard to regulate the temp. at night so the first night us 3 ladies froze. We shared a really nice room. I think we all felt a bit spoiled where we were. Having someone cook for us all week was wonderful. The food was great but I didn't always know what I was eating. On Monday I ate a bit too much and ended up sick during the night. This was not fun but I still thanked God for getting me through it and for sending me to Haiti. I had to stay back as my team headed out on Tues. and that was hard but I had to get my energy back and rest up. With no TV or Internet it was a great time of resting and prayer. I spent the day with God and that is something I don't do here. I have many distractions so it is easy to do other things but when I was in the compound with no one that spoke English it was a time for me to just be with God. He has a plan for everything and maybe that was something He wanted from me--to trust, surrender and just spend a day with Him.
The rest of the week went well. I did lose about 3 lbs from being sick and then cautious about what I ate. I felt good though.
We spent Wed. going to pick up 2 teachers from one of the orphanages and take them to buy books. That was a lot of fun. They were so excited and thankful to have books for the kids.
We all spent Thurs at the orphanage. The construction team was building new, safe benches for the kids to sit on and we were playing and loving on the kids. It was so easy to get attacked to them and I look at the pictures and miss them so much. They loved to wear my hat and sunglasses. Run their fingers up my veins on my arm and play with my hair. I had my hair braided many times since it is to fine to hold the braid. Oh and they loved to take pictures and have their picture taken. They knew my camera was in my right pocket and would point and say "photo". So about 50 of my around 400 pictures were taken by kids.
There were 8 of us from our church and we went out in 2 teams. One went to work on helping the Haitians build houses and the other (which I was with) went out to be with the kids and do VBS stuff with them.
We rode in what was called a Tap-Tap. A truck with benches in the back. Our driver was awesome with all the traffic.
The first day we were near the guys building but we were at a tent church and had over 100 kids--it was so much fun. It was very hot in that tent but loving those kids was so very easy. Some tried to teach me Creole which is their language. I have a hard enough time with English so this was more laughing than anything. I really enjoyed it.
The electricity was spotty and it was hard to regulate the temp. at night so the first night us 3 ladies froze. We shared a really nice room. I think we all felt a bit spoiled where we were. Having someone cook for us all week was wonderful. The food was great but I didn't always know what I was eating. On Monday I ate a bit too much and ended up sick during the night. This was not fun but I still thanked God for getting me through it and for sending me to Haiti. I had to stay back as my team headed out on Tues. and that was hard but I had to get my energy back and rest up. With no TV or Internet it was a great time of resting and prayer. I spent the day with God and that is something I don't do here. I have many distractions so it is easy to do other things but when I was in the compound with no one that spoke English it was a time for me to just be with God. He has a plan for everything and maybe that was something He wanted from me--to trust, surrender and just spend a day with Him.
The rest of the week went well. I did lose about 3 lbs from being sick and then cautious about what I ate. I felt good though.
We spent Wed. going to pick up 2 teachers from one of the orphanages and take them to buy books. That was a lot of fun. They were so excited and thankful to have books for the kids.
We all spent Thurs at the orphanage. The construction team was building new, safe benches for the kids to sit on and we were playing and loving on the kids. It was so easy to get attacked to them and I look at the pictures and miss them so much. They loved to wear my hat and sunglasses. Run their fingers up my veins on my arm and play with my hair. I had my hair braided many times since it is to fine to hold the braid. Oh and they loved to take pictures and have their picture taken. They knew my camera was in my right pocket and would point and say "photo". So about 50 of my around 400 pictures were taken by kids.
Friday 3 of the construction guys went back to work more on things at the orphanage while the rest of us took a trip up to the mountain. We went to the Baptist Mission which was really neat to see. We went to an overlook to see out over Port-au-Prince. That was just amazing. Haiti is a beautiful country with beautiful people.
I fell in love with the country and the people. I feel so blessed to have been called to go.
Saturday 3 of the guys helped with some things that needed done around the compound while the rest of us went to a school that had not had a mission team come in before. We had about 60 kids and did skits and things with them. It was so much fun and several came forward to receive Christ--that was amazing. As we were leaving I was hugging one of the young boys and he asked me to pray for him. He gave me his name and I have been since. I don't know exactly his need but God does.
We also had a pizza party for the staff that evening. They didn't have to cook for us and it was so much fun to see how excited there were to have pizza.
Well if you kept up with me this far--thanks. It is so hard to put into words everything and how so very thankful and blessed I feel to have gotten this opportunity. I do hope to get a chance to go back and next time take my husband. I know he would love it.
God really took me way outside my comfort zone but I took comfort in trusting Him. He stretched me way more than I have ever been stretched. I look forward to see what He has in store for me next--very exciting!!
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