Hello Friends and Family. I called this one day 1.5 because we were supposed to arrive in Haiti on Monday afternoon and have a leisurely dinner before serving Tuesday. However, after 29 hours of flights, unplanned hotels, full airport gates and general testing of the patience our team arrived this morning at 9:35 am. But they rallied and had a great day of serving. Here are some highlights. Craig
At the close of each day in Haiti, we are challenged to come
up with a word that sums up our experiences in the last twelve hours or so.
Yesterday, my word was “timing,” as we spent most of the day fighting seemingly
in-numerous battles against weather systems and flight delays, yet miraculously
arrived in Haiti at 9 am this morning. Today, as we sweated out our first water
truck day, I was thinking about what my word of the day would be. “Endurance” kept popping up. We work with the
poorest of the poor in Cite Soleil, what the Bible would call “the least of
these,” and yet these beautiful people conquer mind-boggling poverty and
hardship every single day. They don’t complain. They don’t wish aloud that it
was different. They endure. My endurance today was challenged on probably the
fiftieth trip carrying water to a house. I had been helping an 8 or 9-year-old
girl (also named Katie) carry around fifteen various containers of water to her
house several hundred yards from the truck, and I was tired. The sun was
brutal, and I couldn’t wipe the sweat off my brow fast enough. My little friend
looked up at me, scooped some water out of the bucket that we had just carried
to her house, and splashed my face. Over and over, we laughed and splashed our
faces with the cool, clean water that Healing Haiti brings daily to Cite
Soleil. She didn’t see my discouragement and exhaustion as a “teaching
opportunity,” but she did teach me a lesson on how to not only endure but
thrive. Katie
Precious moments with precious
people. That describes my day. It’s my fourth trip to Haiti and I fall more and
more in love with this country every time. Yes, there is hardship and despair
but there is always joy. The joy of a child dumping a small pale of water over
themselves, the joy of a mother when you hold her child, the joy of seeing God’s
people connect in unexplainable ways.
Today I spent some time with a very
sick little girl. I didn’t speak her language and I couldn’t even hear her when
she said her name. After sitting with her for five minutes I began to pray over
her; for healing, restoration and opportunity for this sweet girl. As I prayed
I thought about how God knows her name, he knows her future and he is in
control. Haiti has taught me so much and today I learned to cherish the small
moments. Moranda
