Greetings family and friends…
Our second day of serving began this morning assisting the
ladies at Hope School/Church doing the laundry Haitian style for the Elders. The
Elders are the older, grandparent type people. We had five
tubs of water…the first tub worked the initial dirt, the second worked the
soap, finishing up with the last three tubs of rinsing out the soap producing
clean clothes and linens. The ladies, (the Haitian experts), coached us
in doing this by HAND! This was
a GREAT work out!!! I was
able to make a special connection with one of the Haitians who tried so very
hard to teach me the correct way to scrub and as Ellie (one of the team
leaders), would say, how to “squish, squish, squish”. We shared some great laughter while learning
from our new friends.
While we were there this morning one of our team members, Scott,
met up with one of his sponsored kids who attends Hope School. It was a tender
moment as they got to know one another through an interpreter.
We then spent time with the elders from Citi Soleil in Hope
Church. We had about 40 elders in our group today. We colored pictures together, sang together,
and basically spent time together. The
singing was from their hearts and spirit filled. Even though we could not understand all of
the words, it touched us as they praised our God with their song.
After a late lunch we went to the Home for Sick and Dying
Children. They have a nursery, a 2 to 4-year old section, and a 4 years and
older children’s clinic. The children there are severely sick and need all the
loving touch they can get. We had the opportunity to visit the 25 kids in the 2
to 4 year old group. We spent ninety
minutes feeding, changing diapers, holding, walking with those who could walk, and
sharing our love and God’s love with them. It was hard for all of us to walk
away when our time was up. It was hard for them as well as we heard the sad
cries as we left the building. We were
happy that they were well cared for and very loved there.
Dinner was at a new restaurant in town that is owned by one
of our Haitian staff drivers. We had a
wonderful meal of fried chicken, plantains, and fries. It was nice to be out in the community and
supporting Max.
After dinner we played football (soccer) with the 8 to 10 kids
in the street just outside the Healing Haiti compound. The boys were so
gracious to let us play “keep away” with them.
(They are really good!!) We were also able to see another leader, Randy,
bust out a few of his soccer moves and impressed us all!
We then had our daily singing, word of the day and just
generally sharing with each other…we have really come together as a team and
they are all a true blessing to both Dennis and me.
It was a beautiful day in which we could share God’s love
with the wonderful people of Haiti. As always,
I wish all of you could experience this trip with us. Thank you all for your
love, support and prayers.
Blessings,
Dennis & Lori
