So far in Haiti I have:
1. painted, painted, painted, ad painted
2. put together 400 plus bags containing clothes, food and toiletries
3. rode on the back of a truck hanging on for dear life
4. played volleyball and got creamed by 9-14 year olds
5. had tons of children climb all over me
6. had more paint showing on my body than skin
7. got high fives from 1200 beautiful haitian children
8. stood in awe in a tractor trailer sized container that had everything for wedding ministry (rows of wedding dresses, suits, shoes, vails, rings, ties)
9. handed out feed my starving children food packets
10. prayed for healing of a blind eye everyday
11. played ultimate spoons
12. saw 12 year old girls bringing their babies to sunday school
13. saw bloated bellies and red brittle hair
14. prayed for protection of this camp while painting the fece that surrounds the perimeter
15. ate goat
16. swam in the carribean often
17. sweat more than i have in in my entire life combined
18. found meaning in painting a fence day after day after day
19. been blessed by an easy month as the team treasurer
20. refused a comfy bed inside to a cot outside beneath my mosquito net
21. gotten bitten by something that cause swelling and pussing in numerous areas
22. had Tim Hortons coffee!!! praise God for Canadian hosts
23. had a sweet little baby boy named kelove fall asleep in my arms
24. had a never ending game of tag with a 9 year old boy night after night
25. drank water out of a bag
26. was a human barbie doll for little girls
27. learned a total of three words in Creole: merci, Bonjou and Bonswa
28. talked about Disney with Hannah for about an hour( and thought about you mom the entire time)
29. had a bathroom that you can flush toilet paper down instead of in a trash can which surprisingly took awhile to get used to
30. confiscated a razor blade from the children that bring them to sunday school
31. been to 3 different slums
32. have cried and rejoiced
33. felt the deep darkness of this country, pray for the light to enter in
34. Made it through Hurricane Sandy, and got stuck in Haiti for a few more days
35. Played with a little boy who had downs syndrome, my heart melted
36. Have let God love me more and more each day
Haiti has not been at all like I expected. I didn't expect a nice house with running water, a cook, beds, an ocean view and toilets that you can flush toilet paper down. What i did expect Haiti to be was pitched tents in dirt, using a steripen to clean water for drinking, no showers, rice and beans everyday, and a hole in the ground for a toilet. The reason i thought this: well that is how everybody else lives in Haiti but instead of a tent and sleeping pad they have four metal pieces and a dirt floor to sleep on, and instead of a steripen to clean their water they just drink any water they can get, and that little metal piece shelter houses about 17 people. I also didn't expect to be painting a fence all month( more to come about that in a different blog). I expected to be in the slums everyday forming relationships and telling about Christ's love. I expected so much yet God knew what I needed, God knew what our team needed. He knew we would be doing hard work in the brutal sun all month so He blessed us with a nice bed and good food to end our days with.Haiti hasn't been what I expected it to be but God's plan is bigger and He works in ways we never thought a possibility.
See blog: Lessons learned on a fence
