I have safely arrived in Haiti guys!!!
Even though we were on the same island while we were in the Dominican Republic, crossing the border, to me, was like entering a completely different world.
These last 4 days have been so so great! Everyday is packed full with ministry and I love every second of it, so I’m going to give you a little insight on the things we have packed into these FIRST 4 days!
WEDNESDAY
(First full day of ministry)
We woke up in a new country, having no clue what the place we were staying in even looked like due to arriving so late Tuesday night. So, we were extremely thrilled to wake up and see that we are in a cute, very sweet, PINK house!
It’s wild!
•Matthew 25 Houses
This is a place that the family has created to house and care for the Gramoun (elderly) in the community. It’s very common in Haiti for the elderly to not have a good source of food supply and a bad housing condition. Here, all families usually live in the same house and they look out for each other, but when the family is big, the elderly are not always giving all the care and sources they need. Most elderly came into the Matthew 25 houses sick and very skinny. The family takes a good deal of time of looking into the elders living condition and prayer before they are asked to come stay with them.
We got to meet all the Gramoun (elderly) and we were able to sit with the ladies and paint their nails.
•House Visits with Gramoun
After lunch we went and did house visits with the elderly who’s families are not okay with letting the elderly family member go just yet, even though they would be better cared for in the ministries care. Here in Haiti, the whole entire family has to agree with the Gramoun leaving for the ministry to take them in. So, even if just one of the 5 kids disagree, they can not leave. They are still given food and things they need, they just do not stay in the houses. We stopped and prayed for them and any pains they had. It was very eye opening to see how they live.
•Beach with Munchkins
Next, we were able to head to the beach, which is only 2 minutes from our house, with all the kiddos! They swarmed us like we were Santa with a ton of presents!
By the way, this beach is breath taking!
As we all jumped in, we were surprised to see all these naked children run in after us! It was weird at first, but it just made me happy to see how simple life can be and how care free they were! We splashed braided hair for a while and finally said goodbye for the night.
THURSDAY
•Evangelism
After breakfast we set out and all I knew was that we had about a 45 minute walk. We went through the market, down the road, and started going up this mountain.
I’ve never seen a view as beautiful as this!
We ended up in a community up the mountain and we went to house visits to do a Evangelism. We went to spread the gospel to some who either did not know the Lord or knew Him, but didn’t really have a relationship with Him.
•Bible Club (Alex)
This is something that our translator, Alex, has felt very called to do for his community and the youth here in Haiti to try change the future for them. He tells us about his experiences as a teen and all the mistakes he made with drugs and alcohol and how the Lord plucked him straight out of that life and his life has never been the same since. He sees great things in the children and does not want them to get dragged down all the rides he has been down. He is very wise and is definitely someone I look up to. We listened in on bible club and watch how he did things because we will be leading them ourselves soon!
•BEACH TIME WITH MUNCHKINS
We headed to the beach again with all the kiddos!!
FRIDAY
•Plan Bible Clubs/VBS
We ate breakfast and had the morning to begin planning bible club and VBS plans. My team was in charge for bible club that we would be leading this afternoon.
•Lunch with Gramoun
For lunch we went to the Matthew 25 house to have lunch with all the Gramouns and we ended up spending majority of the time dancing around because they love laughing at the weird white people hahaha!
•Leading Bible Club
After lunch is when we headed to the school yard to lead bible club. We knew there would be a good amount of children come, but we were not expecting the whopping 60 kiddos who showed up!! We decided to read from Luke 8, where God calmed the storm. We then explained the meaning of how we need to trust the Lord even in the storms that we will go through in life. We finished up with an obstacle course where they first had to go through blindly, then had one of us guide them through the second time. We showed them that it was easier to go through with a guide (God) and that is why we should always rely on Him.
SATURDAY
•VBS
After breakfast we headed to the school yard again to lead a VBS! We had a whole hour to just play soccer, dance, and braid hair (they love that)! Then, one of our teams rounded them all together for a skit of the protocol son. The children laughed and giggled the whole time so I believe the girls did a great job on acting! We then played a game of red light green light to end with!
•Ann’s Children’s Home
This is an orphanage that Ann has created for children with special needs. This lady is a fire cracker and is a real role model! She began telling us some of the children’s story’s of how she found some of them in the garage where their families had placed them because of their disabilities. Also, some were trapped for days after the hurricane and became very ill or even lost limbs due to this. It is crazy to think how privileged we are to have health care right at our finger tips while they have little to non here and their families resort to literally throwing them away because they can’t take care of them. This children’s home has really touched my heart and I really respect Ann for all she is doing.
•Choir Practice
We ended the day with going to choir practice! Exciting right? We are practicing songs in English and creole so that we can sing in front of the church next Sunday with their choir!
Hopefully I’ll be able to film it for all of you to see!!
These 4 days have been jam packed and exhausting, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world! From the Gramoun to the kiddos, I can’t help but treasure every second with them! Please keep Haiti in your prays and that they may become as impacted as I am by them!
