EBC Spring Lake Park Day 4: Sweet Home/Metal/Dio's; November 1st

Another great day in Haiti!

This morning, we started out at the Sweet Home orphanage where we had more time to spend with kids.  It was amazing.  The orphanage houses about 30 children and is building more space for another 50 children.  The kids were very energetic and happy to spend time with the team.  Activities ranged from coloring and blowing bubbles, playing tic tac toe and full-on soccer.  There even was a yoga session led by Elaine and Mary. 

After the orphanage, there was time to shop at the metal market.  A few of us let loose and emptied the wallet and purses – we’re talking about Bill, Dave, and Ellie of course.  It was incredible to see the workers as well.  Most are just building the metal art right on the ground – no bench, no chair, all by hand.  These people have a desire to work and it was great to support them today.  Many shop owners were pleased to see our willingness to spend. 

Last stop was Dio’s orphanage for special needs children.  It was very impressive to see the will of these kids despite their disabilities.  There were kids playing soccer in wheelchairs/walkers.  They were not going to let the fact they had deformed legs stop them.  The bubbles were a hit as well.  The children were quick to embrace us.  Their energy and laughter was contagious.  We all showed up wanting to show them love, but we felt like we got a lot more in return. 

We did have a special appearance from a snake.  One of the Haitian women cut the head off, and one of the Haitian men took the body and chased the most squeamish of us out of the courtyard.  They thought it was funny – well most of us thought it was too.  Overall, it was a fantastic day serving together at both orphanages.

During devo time we had the opportunity to share our words of the day:

Resilience (Bill)

Protection (Chloe)

Joy (Mary)

Will (Steve)

Thankful (Cindy)

Smile (Anna)

Growth (Chris)

Innocence (Merideth)

Flawless (Elaine)

Potential (Ellie)

Stillness (Andee)

Diverse (Stan)

Present (Callie)

Energetic (Abbie)

Happiness (Wayne)

Content (Jamie)

Connection (Dave)