There is HOPE

How do you start a blog after the Wednesday that I have had, and also after the last blog…. I heard it was a great long blog that Brad,  our awesome Lawyer/Novelist wrote.  I didn’t want to read it, because I wouldn’t be able to write about todays experience without using a lot of big words I don’t understand!  Haha….  So here goes.

I woke up at 6:00 a.m. not being able to sleep in this amazing house we are staying in.  The rooster was crowing outside, and I thought how ironic and amazing this is that I am in Haiti, but hear familiar sounds of the U.S.  At 8:00 sharp breakfast was on the table by our amazing hosts at the Healing Haiti house.  More food than we could finish and some awesome juice that was definitely made from scratch!  We found out that our plans to go out on the water truck were still a go…  the people in Citi Soliel have not had the water truck visit them for almost 2 weeks due to the unrest.  So we loaded all our gear on the  Tap Tap, and along with another group we drove off to the Hope Facilities in Citi Soliel.

Once at the Hope we got a tour of this amazing property that was once a trash dump and turned into a beautiful sanctuary.  We got to see their beautiful church, which isn’t like our typical church.  It had an open ceiling and concrete floors, bench seats and a platform for their preacher.  It is more than enough to worship an amazing God.  Not only the church is there, the school is around the church and teachers are on hand to teach children up to Kindergarten age.  Ladies from the Healing Haiti team put together a sewing room with 10 sewing machines, that are solar powered and an air-conditioned trailer for the women in Citi Soliel to learn to sew and make diapers, menstrual pads, and so much more.  Then we got to see another trailer that is being used to teach the children about technology.  This was a very heart-warming experience for all of us to hear about.  Ash is the IT teacher that takes these children for 45 minutes at a time and let the kids get lost in technology.  These children are learning to read, and do math amongst other things without even knowing they are learning, with iPads that are customized for them.  No You tube or other distractions. There’s also a clinic that consists of a few doctors and 3 nurses that see patients.  The cost of a new patient visit is less than $1, but the reason they are charged at all is to allow the Haitians to have dignity and not take handouts.  They invest in their healthcare or education.   Also, as well as getting schooling the children are fed a hot meal.  As we all know it’s hard to learn or stay focused when you are “hangry” so these kids might not eat otherwise.  This sanctuary is God’s work in its finest and you can feel it within those walls, through the leaders and helpers of this awesome place!  

Our day didn’t stop there, this was all before 12:00!  Next,  we were on our way to deliver water to the Haitian people.  We walked out to the streets of Citi Soliel, I had a camera in hand ready to click away some adorable children.  I wasn’t prepared for the camera duty, as I soon noticed that every child wanted their picture taken and they wanted me to hold them at the same time.  I held one and snapped a picture of the other, and then another was trying to crawl up my back, and one tugging at my shirt.  These children were adorable, dirty, and some were naked… but it didn’t matter. These are God’s children and we need to love them. So, in my most broken Haitian I said Jezi Ray Man oo, or Jesus loves you.  I got an extra squeeze from the little girl I was holding and felt God working through me.  All the while there is a line of women and children lining up behind a huge water truck blasting water into 5 gallon pales, and any other open container, trash can, anything they can put water in and carry back to their homes. It was a moment of mass chaos of happiness, and despair all at the same time.  We still felt and saw the beauty of God at work.  We made another water stop after a long break at the Hope house.  It wasn’t quite as chaotic, but all the same feelings were there.  The Haitian people were very friendly and you could tell they were happy to see Americans, because that means clean water.  It was a quiet ride back from the Citi in the Tap Tap. 

We were all touched by today in different ways, we have bonded so much in two days.  There are 10 people in this house that have been forever changed, and will continue to change in the days to come.  The question is what will we do with what we have learned here?  Who will really want to know what we have learned here?  I do know this, that God brought me here for a reason and I will do my best to live through him. 

~Don’t count sheep tonight, talk to the Shepard.   -Tom Gacek                

-----Michelle - Radiant Life - Michigan/Minnesota team