Gainor / Harren Haiti Trip 2018 - Day 1 - In the Middle of a Move of God

Day 1: Dear family and friends, We began our first day serving in Haiti with excited hearts and minds for the day to come. We boarded the tap tap, our mode of transportation, and traveled to our first stop of the day, being an orphanage. When we first arrived, the kids welcomed us with singing and dancing. After that, we started the morning by Kim telling the story of Daniel and the Lion. We had a Haitian translator help tell the story so the kids could understand. After, we made a lion craft with the kids using paper plates and colorful paper. When we were finished with the craft, we split up and played basketball, soccer, tag, and games with the kids. The kids even had a contest at who could do the best backflip! While reading the story, the kids were so respectful and calm, but when it came to playtime their personalities really came alive and they were full of energy! Some of our group members even learned (and won) a few games that the Haitian kids taught us! Our next stop was another orphanage, but smaller in size to the previous one. At this orphanage, we were again greeted by song. The kids came to each of us and sat on our laps as we made crafts with clothespins, and pompoms to make clip caterpillars. The kids really enjoyed clipping their hard work to their clothes, our clothes, and hair! We had a great time bonding with the kids by playing soccer, coloring on the sidewalk with chalk, drawing learning each other’s names on whiteboards, and climbing and racing up a sand pile! As you might be able to tell, soccer is a popular sport in Haiti! When we arrived back to the guesthouse, we decided to take a quick swim at a local hotel pool to cool off and relax. Driving to and from locations has been very eye opening to all of the team members as well, seeing the way of life of the Haitian people. As we wind down from the day, our hearts are filled with the love for Christ, our experience today, and each other.