I’m pretty sure I get the meaning of “greeting each other with a holy kiss” now. Thanks God…
Two days ago I finally made my way over to Port-au-Prince from Santo Domingo. It was the longest 10 hour drive of my life including a 3-hour road block at the border, over 1000 speed bumps (you think I’m exaggerating), and heavy heavy traffic in Port-au-Prince. Needless to say, I was exhausted after the long journey and was thankful to finally get in my tent and pass out.
The very next day, Liz, Teri and I traveled to the Fleury Foundation Orphanage (you can see before pictures here) in Leogane, just outside of Port-au-Prince. This is an orphanage that has literally lost everything. Before the earthquake hit, they ran an advanced medical clinic complete with an ambulance, a bakery, housing for over fifty children, a church, and a school. All of these buildings were completely destroyed and left in ruins. Liz and Teri were doing some work for Children’s Hope Chest while I was trying to see how the World Race could get involved. When we finally met the children, each one of them (51 girls and 2 boys) came up and gently kissed our cheeks saying hello. At first, I thought it was really cute after about twenty of them had puckered up, then I just became overcome with their love. It was quite an incredible experience and I instantly connected with them. They were just too precious.
Pastor Kelly then accompanied us to the various sites that had been crushed, recounting the stories of what happened during the earthquake. He showed us the former building that housed all of the children…completely in ruins. All that remained in the wake was a hat and dress draping over the rubble. We proceeded to ask why that was there and here’s what he told us…
The day the earthquake hit, the children were out in front of the building sitting down or playing around. One of the house mothers was on the 2nd floor with two of the children as the building came crashing down. She jumped to protect them, hovering over them, agonizing in pain as the walls crumpled on top of her. The children crawled out of the rubble barely scraped while the mother laid there, body beaten and weakened by the blow. She knew that the children had made it safely out as she took her final breaths beneath the rocks. She laid her life down for these sweet sweet babies. This hat and dress were hers. They are a reminder to them of her sacrifice. The way she gave her life as Jesus did, so that others might live. That is a true testimony of God’s love for these children. I was blown away by this story…and yet…there are still more and more out there just like this.
To see these little girls after such a tragedy with the ability and capacity to love so greatly is God’s grace in action. Although the focus and attention of the world seems to turn away from Haiti these days as other world news takes precedence, these sweet children still show love to us. Foreigners. Strangers. It doesn’t matter to them. They smiled from ear to ear welcoming our presence. We were able to get all of their bio information and we gave out some gifts that Teri brought down with her. We prayed for them, laughed with them, and took lots of pictures. We are hoping and praying for God to send more workers and aid down here to get places like this back on their feet. These children have nothing to sleep on and rainy season is coming soon. Food is super expensive now and it’s just harder to feed fifty children with the supply that they have.
I am so thankful for this experience. I pray that your heart is continually moved for these people even though the media’s eyes are shifting elsewhere. They are still in such desperate need. We felt a tremor yesterday that terrified these kids. I couldn’t imagine living every day in such fear. But that’s their reality. Pray for these children as they continue to rebuild what was lost.
To find out how you can continue to support me and the ministry that we’re doing down here, visit these sites:
