Our day started very early today with 6:00 A.M. service. When we walked into the church, we could feel the Spirit of God instantly. Although the service was primarily in Creole, we experienced a pure and authentic worship that went beyond our language barrier.
After service, we headed on a tap tap ride to Grace Village. Grace Village currently consists of a school, children's homes, and a medical clinic. The facilities service about 75 children right now. It was amazing to listen to the children in VBS, and to spend time drawing and playing with some of them. We have found that the children often don't need much entertain, but often just want to be held and shown affection.
After visiting Grace Village, we had the treat of touring Fleuri Bakery. The Bakery currently employs about 25 Haitian staff and produces thousands of dollars of merchandise each month. The building was beautiful and the pastry looked, smelled, and TASTED amazing!
Next, we loaded up for the climax of our day: visited with the elders of the community. Visiting the elders is a ritual that Healing Haiti has for each team trip. We visited four elders, and took them each a plate of food and beverage and offered them prayer, foot washing, massages, and music. It amazed us that as we visited each of the elders, they asked for very little monetary or physical needs, but all asked for prayers for healing and increased faith. They didn't know this, but as we served them and prayed for their faith, our faith was also stretching! We are grateful to have had the opportunity to show the love of Jesus in such a sacred and special way.
Our last stop of the day was at the mass grave memorial site. This is the burial site for thousands of victims of the 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti. This earthquake killed 200, 000 people, injured over 300,000. One of our Haitian staff members,Valerie, gave us a tour and shared with us the background of the site. He shared stories of university students who were trapped underneath their building rumble for days without help; and of small children being injured and lost without family or access to medical treatment. It was beyond sobering. We thank God that He allowed us to grow in the knowledge and understanding today.
Our summary of today is overflowing! Overflowing tears, overflowing sweat, overflowing faith, overflowing servitude, and overflowing GRATITUDE!
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