Today started out with prayer and another amazing breakfast, prepared with love by the Healing Haiti Staff (did we say that they are all amazing – well, we are saying it again). We filled our cooler with water bottles from the freezer. Gathered snacks for the Healing Haiti (HH) drivers and interpreters that accompanied us. Hydration is very important to serve at our fullest capacity. We all piled into the tap-tap with our HH friends and headed out.
We drove through the bustling city filled with street vendors, tap-taps scurrying to their destinations, and for a brief moment caught a glimpse of the majestic shoreline under the brightly shining sun on our journey to Titanyen. In a way, the shoreline seemed to serve as a reminder from God that he still reigns and can bring light into the darkest of shadows. It’s a sign of hope, perseverance, and peaceful tranquility. The mountains in the distance created a thunderstorm-like appearance on the horizon.
We arrived at Titanyen and traversed the narrow rocky residential paths between residences. We stopped outside the home of a pastor and gathering area for the local children’s ministry. He greeted us outside the gates of his humble abode and happened to be wearing a very familiar t-shirt. We all were met with such delight that it was overwhelming. The children were praising and singing and being led by a very enthusiastic young adult, whom we discovered was the pastor's brother. The energy we witnessed was breathtaking. These children were praising God at the top of their lungs. Every bit of energy in their bodies was converging into one delightful sound of praise and worship. We were in awe and humbled by the sound of children praising God with hearts of joy and gratitude. This pastor is making an amazing difference in spreading the cleansing peace of Jesus through these children by teaching them to seek after God in their hearts, songs and praise. We visited with this pastor and gave our love to the children that he teaches about God. We played with them, cuddled them, sang them songs, made artwork and crafts, helped to feed them and prayed with them. We took every opportunity to speak to God about each child we held and each child we saw. The smiles and love they showed us is something none of us will ever forget.
To be blessed with the gift of love is something many people
of today lack, but the people of Haiti make up for it. We all expressed feelings
of being invigorated with faith, gratitude, inspiration and peace just having
spent time with them today. We are so impressed with how strong their faith is
and how they center their lives on God. The key to this is starting to teach
them as children and this pastor shared his testimony of how God convicted his heart
to this ministry. Surely, the Lord is pleased that they lead them in teaching
faith, prayer and manners. They show them love at every opportunity and they
create a safe environment for them to flourish. We can’t express in enough
words to tell you everything we are feeling, but each of you should come to Haiti and experience everything that God has for you here just as we have. You need
to experience Haiti for yourselves to fully understand how God uses children,
the elderly, the sick, the poor, the dying and even those in despair to truly
show you the AWE-someness of his everlasting love and how it not only can touch
the people of Haiti, but help you grow a stronger relationship with him as
well.
We said our goodbyes and left feeling exhausted yet fulfilled in the Lord, knowing that we allowed him to come into our hearts and use us to serve as his hands today to love on those children. We got back to the guest house, had a half hour to regroup, and went to the local hotel to swim and enjoy each other’s company. We had some plantain chips and soda followed by a few games of pool volleyball filled with joyful laughter. And, after all of this….we still were excited to play a game of soccer with the local neighborhood children. Each of our members wrote messages of love and inspiration on the soccer ball we played with because we hope that the children of Haiti will see God in all things, including the fun times.
As the bittersweet realization that our time here is nearing its end, each of us have grown spiritually, gained deeper appreciation for the love God reveals in the hearts and eyes of the people in Haiti. It seems that our willingness to play, praise, and pray together has helped us develop stronger friendships. It’s a feeling of immense connection with your faith-filled brothers and sisters in Christ. To have known a group of people for such a short period of time, but come to love them with such intentionality is to be in obedience to what God has called us to do. Love thy neighbor.
~ Matt, Shantay & Sue
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