Reflections from Haiti- July 26th-July 27th

Monday and Tuesday of our trip was spent at King's Garden Orphanage. It was great to see the same smiling faces as last year, with some new ones too! We spent the morning getting to know the kids and talking to them. We had a large group time with the kids where we sang songs: "Love the Lord Your God", "Every Move I Make", "I am Free", and "Lord I Lift Your Name on High". Afterwards we played "Sharks and Minos" with the kids. Josh always does a great job with the kids. He gets down on the ground and plays with them... a big kid! We grouped the kids based on age/ gender for rotations: 1.) art- where they made journals and wrote letters to kids at our church. This is what I was incharge of. 2.) teambuilding- cup game, high rope, and other teambuilding activities. This is what Josh was incharge of. 3.) sports/ games

In the afternoon the older girls did a study on Ruth. They painted nails, made friendship bracelets, hairties, and just had fun! The older boys studied David and played sports. The young kids learned about Jonah and made fish out of paper plates, and bead necklaces with ocean beads (Josh and I were in this group). We also played limbo with our group. I'll let the pictures speak for themself...

Reflections from Haiti- July 25th

The first night in Haiti was a rough one... as I didn't get a single wink of sleep the entire night! The next morning I realized I wasn't the only one. There are so 3 new noises one must get used to when sleeping in Haiti: 1.) The barking guard dogs- remember Blackie and the cute pregnant one I mentioned earlier? Well, let's just say they are not so cute when barking at 1:00am! 2.) The roosters crowing... you don't realize how early dawn really is until you hear them. Yes they do start crowing at like 3:30-4:00 am. And it's not just one cock-a-doodle-do, more like a choir of roosters on stage performing for the entire morning duration. 3.) All the new breathing noises and bed creaks around you. All of this plus Malaria meds that tends to speed me up, not slow me down... Thankfully I didn't have any problems the rest of the week catching up on sleep. It's amazing at how quickly the dogs & roosters become noises like home! I didn't even hear them the rest of the trip!!

Today was Josh's birthday!! What a cool way to spend your birthday! (We are celebrating it today- August 7 with family.) That morning we went to Junie's church, where she has been going there since she was a young girl. The drive to her church was in a nicer area a little further away from the busyness of the city, although we saw a lot more damage from the earthquake. I don't even remember how far the drive was because we were so focused on the scenes around us. We saw many buildings and homes that were devestated from the earthquake. The hardest one to see was the presidential palace. It was so upsetting to see a beautiful iconic for the Haitians, destroyed and crumbled. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...

The church service was all in French, so we didn't understand any of it. But it was so encouraging to see other believers so passionate about what they believe. The only part we understood was at one point we kind of heard a church leader say "...Christ Community Church" and look right at us. We stood and everyone waved at us. Then later we heard the same type of thing and she looked right at our group. The piano player got ready and the whole congregation started singing "Happy Birthday" in French. We weren't sure exactly if it was for Josh or not, but I think it was! It made us so happy!! The church was beautiful with stained glass windows and made up of wonderful people! (I know I have a picture of it, but can't find it... so I'll upload later.)

The rest of the day we didn't have anything planned but relaxation, which was perfect since I was extrememly tired! That night we prepped for our big week with the kids! I went to bed so eager to see those beautiful faces that I had seen one year prior.

Reflections from Haiti- July 24th

It's hard to believe we've been home for four days already and how much we already miss Haiti and our wonderful team!

Saturday, July 24th~ We met up with our team at church at 6:00A.M. Most of us were exhausted from a sleepless night due to terrible storms and excitement for the trip. We made sure to get out classic picture outside of the airport. (You can see Josh's wet shirt... it was POURING BUCKETS!!)Once we checked-in our lugguage, we got some much needed coffee for the coffee addicts and breakfast from Dunkin's of course! We flew into Miami and from there ran to catch our next flight to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. We literally made it just in time to grab a quick meal and run onto our plane... I think they waited for us! After we took off for Haiti, we had to start filling out custom forms. I successfully completed the form on the 4th attempt (I need to slow down and read directions... listen to the advice I give my students.) Landing in Haiti, you immediately notice the beautiful grassy mountains. Haiti really is a beautiful country. It was once known as the Pearl of the Caribbean, and I can see why. The landscape is so beautiful! After landing we went into the airport, down a flight of stairs and headed onto a bus (different from last year) that took us to the luggage claim. This area looked kind of like a large warehouse with a metal roof. We went through customs (I was so excited to use some Creole) and waited for our luggage, which took awhile because there were a lot of people on our flight. Once we got our luggage, we walked outside and saw our host standing there. It was so good to see him again! We couldn't believe the nice warm breeze that hit us as we left the airport... it felt so nice and refreshing. Our host said it just rained so it cooled off a lot. It felt good to be back in Haiti! A few of our team members rode in a van and some of us (me and hubby) rode with our host. He remembered that I liked avacadoes so stopped at a few places to pick a bunch up for us for the week. The avacadoes are HUGE and so yummy in Haiti!! We also got eggs for breakfast. We drove about 30 minutes to our hosts house (now remember the roads are not like roads here... very bumpy, traffic, and food stops along the way). We passed the familiar small red spaghetti hut stand on the corner of the road before our hosts house. It was nice to remember my way around... sort of! We were greeted at our hosts house by Blackie barking and another dog (can't remember her name) very pregnant! It was great to see everything just as we had left, as they had no damage after the earthquake... Praise GOD! When we got in we choose our room/ roommates and hungout for awhile before dinner. We had a great meal and were just happy to be there with our church partners! We closed the night with a team devotional time... focusing on what poverty is, what it looks like, and how we reacted to the new culture we were in.

Wow! I can't believe I just wrote that much about the 1st day... and we really didn't even count that as a full day since it was mostly travel. Hang in there with me as I recall and journal about our journey to the Pearl!

Mist

This morning I was reflecting on why I decided to go to Haiti, and how God's hand was a part of my decision from the beginning. All along we were planning on starting a family this year, so we decided that the hubby would go alone, because we didn't want to risk anything with the recommended vaccinations. About a month prior to his departure, we received news that we wouldn't be able to have children right now. (Maybe I'll share the whole story at a later time.)This caused a mix of emotions in us. We had been preparing for parenthood for about a year now, constantly dreaming about our kids and what our life will be like when we finally meet them! We believe and trust in God that His plan for us is to be parents. I don't care about how I become a mom, just as long as I am one. We already know the names of our children... we've had one of them picked out since our teenage years! We would love a family of four kids, one in each arm, perfect for playing games with (as my dad always said!) Josh says he prays for twin boys and after hearing from Grandma about how much twins run in our family he gets really excited and giggly! Josh will make a GREAT daddy. Seeing how he is with friend's babies and the kids at King's Orphanage. He will be so helpful, cuddly/ loving, and a wonderful leader. I am so thankful I married him, because God knew exactly what I would need in a spouse and gave me that in Josh.

For now we trust in God's most perfect timing and know He will be faithful and provide these desires of our hearts... one way or another! He has a perfect plan and we trust in it. So that is why, in a nutshell, I decided to go to Haiti. Many friends and family asked why I decided to go and probably thought I'd given up on wanting a family. And that is far from the truth. God has other plans for me right now, and I am following His lead and trusting that He is developing me into the Mommy He has created me to be.

God called me to go back to Haiti, just one month prior to departure. The exact day our team leaders purchased the plane tickets. I knew God wanted me to go as I spent time in His Word. I read James 4:13-17. "Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that. As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins."
This verse spoke straight to my heart. I heard God saying, this door is open for you to go serve and encourage my people in Haiti. Who am I to say no to God! I quickly told Josh I was going and they made sure to buy one more plane ticket. Before the creation of the world, God planned for me to go on that trip. This wasn't anything new to Him. It was all a part of His plan all along. It was a stretch and a step of faith for me to leave the comforts of my home and go to a hot 3rd world country. But I am so glad I did! Stories and reflections from the trip coming soon!!