Today turned out to be another wonderfully humbling yet
powerful day. We started it off again with a bumpy ride in the tap tap and made
our way to visit some of our elders near Grace Village. There was some anxiety
amongst the team on how this would look and how we would show up with love. To be
quite honest, it was intimidating. But perhaps that was a good place for us to
start. Each one of us coming from lives of excess in America in comparison to
these elders in their dirt floor homes with leaky roofs (or no roof at all). And
we’re the ones who are intimidated by the situation. It only took our first elder
visit to remove all hesitation and bring all of us to our knees with open palms
to serve. We had the privilege of washing 4 elder’s feet, massaging their shoulders,
and bringing them a warm meal and a goodie bag. Not only that, we had the honor
of praying over them as team with the elders’ specific prayer requests in mind.
This was so unbelievably humbling. We saw Jesus in each of their faces today.
And yet, we also saw Jesus in each other today. We laid bare our hearts, our
insecurities, our fears… and allowed God to show us all his wonder. For many of
us, it was a glimpse of what it’s like to take our hands off the steering wheel
and just let God be.
After our elder visits, we went to a beautiful place called
Rosie’s where we had a quick snack for lunch and bought some souvenirs. Then we
drove back up the hill to Grace Village, where we met Caleb for our tour of the
grounds. This village contained a clinic, a school, a huge garden, cafeteria, playground,
and family-style living quarters. Children start school at Grace Village at age
2 and are able to go all the way to age 20. It costs $75 per year to attend,
which covers all their food and medical supplies needed. The homes are set up
as all-girl and all-boy homes with a “mommy” or “poppy” living in each home with
the Grace Village children. Standing on the grounds looking out over Haiti and
the ocean, it reminded us of the technology pod at Hope in Cite Soleil – while you’re
there, you forget where you are for a bit. Rather than poverty, you see
opportunity. Rather than despair, you see joy. We’ve seen immeasurable good
being done in Haiti in our short time here. It is an honor to be a witness to
it.
After sitting under the shade trees for a while looking out at
the ocean and reflecting on the power at work in Grace Village, we made our way
down the hill to Fleri bakery and restaurant. Fleri means Flourish, and it was such
a great ending to a day filled with humbling grace. Jake gave us a tour of the
bakery and restaurant and shared the history of how it came to be. But most of
all he shared his love of the people there and how proud he is of the progress
they’ve made. In his own time serving with Healing Haiti, he shared how his outlook
on “serving” has transformed. Serving can mean so many things and look different
for everyone. What matters is that we open our hearts – we lay them bare – to God
and His plan and let Him take it from there. He can do far more than we could
ever imagine if we allow Him. It is then, only then, that we may flourish together. - Mackenzie
