Journey of Faith Day 2 by Camie Neece

We spent the day loving on kids and it was incredible! We first visited a creche (an orphanage where kids can be adopted in Haiti) called Home Sweet Home. We played ball, blew bubbles, colored, and held the kids. I was really impressed with the care this creche provided. All the kids go to school and are fed. They are building a new building on the property so that they can move from caring for 34 kids to 100 kids and they are also doing job training to help prevent women from needed to give their child up for adoption! It was really inspiring to see these kids and we had a lot of fun.

Next, we visited a second creche, For His Glory. This creche was a bit larger than the first (caring for 60 kids) and here the kids there seemed extra excited to see us! They raised their arms asking to be held and we all spent a lot of time with a kid in our arms (or in many cases several kids in our arms). In some ways holding children seems simple but it was what these kids needed. I broke down in tears leaving this creche as the kids did not want to be put down, but I was comforted seeing their great nannies pick them up, soothe them, and wave good-bye.

Visiting this second creche was especially meaningful for me personally. A while back my husband, Ryan McDowell, and I started the process of adopting a child through Haiti. This missions trip was unrelated to our adoption, and as we prepared for this trip people continuously asked us, "Are you going to go the any of the orphanages you could adopt from?" We always said, "no" as there are over 700 orphanages in Haiti. However, For His Glory is the primary orphanage affiliated with our adoption agency and we had no idea that is where we were going until we arrived! We got to meet the director (Frankie), see the creche we have been sending Christmas gifts to, and see the place where our future child will possibly come from. Moreover, I spent some time this evening with Krista, the Healing Haiti missionary on site here in Haiti, and she said a lot of encouraging things about the creche. This adoption process as been (and will continue to be) messy, unpredictable, and confusing at times, but today, in a very supernatural way, God showed us he hears our prayers, that he will guide us through this process, and he also provided a few answers to our many questions, which we greatly appreciate.

Our last stop today was to a home for the sick and dying children. Here there were about 32 beds with children, some of whom appeared malnourished, some were on IVs, and some of them were getting better. We spent a few hours feeding these children, changing their diapers, giving them water, and holding them. I think for many people on our team this was a very emotional visit, as seeing sick children in a poor country is difficult. While the visit was hard (I welled up in tears as I started feeding my first child) it was also humbling. Many of us felt a great sense of humanity recognizing that we are all love and created by the same God. It was also great to see the care the nuns provided for these children and encouraging to know that many of these children do improve during their stay and they are able to return to their families.

In sum it was a great day! A lot of what I saw today was heartbreaking, but I am confident God is breaking my heart and rebuilding it to be more like his. Tomorrow we are delivering water to Citi Solie which should also be incredible. Stay tuned and keep praying for us!