Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Landing & First Full Day in Haiti

Yesterday was slightly crazy flights--no worries mom, we made it. Had a little bit of turbulence coming into Haiti (small drop out of the sky, again we just started with some great stories). Once we got to the guest house, we moved in, said a few prayers that we actually got here, and enjoyed a delicious supper made by the Haitian women. Some of us went to the pool (let's just put it out there that we are not accustomed to the humidity quite yet, it is hot.), while others of us went to the grocery store/pharmacy (we all learned a little about Haitian medicine--if you can say it, you can buy it). Then we did a little team bonding and most of us were ready for bed (and the air conditioner) pretty early last night.


Today we got up and enjoyed breakfast together and got ready for the day. As we loaded up the Tap-Tap (our transportation and bus) we headed out to visit the elders. We stopped along the way and bought our 4 elder friends a hot meal, cold pop, and two packages, yes, packages of water. In Haiti they package water in plastic pouches. We then went and picked up our healing Haiti partner, Katie, who played the guitar and sing for us. We are SUPER thankful as most of us can sing, but need some guidance. We visited 4 elders today, each of them a different living situation and prayer request. With each stop we handed them their food, but then we had the opportunity to wash their feet and hands, then lotion them, and finally pray with and over them. It was truly an experience like no other. We then got to go to Rosie's boutique for some ice cream or frozen lemonade. However, Grace scoped out the baby and held that little sweetie while her mom worked. We then returned to Grace Village and the kids were just getting out of school and it is safe to say that our hearts all melted when we heard "hey you! hey you" coming from the cutest little kids you have ever seen. They embraced us with open arms and open hearts. One little guy named Peter remembers Kevin from his last trip and came to give him a hug (it was so sweet)! We then took a tour of Grace Village and saw all the ways our awesome God was working in the school there, we had the cutest tag along, Jameslee. He has stolen our hearts for sure. We then headed to Fleri's for food and a tour of the bakery. Jake gave us a wonderful tour of the bakery and explained to us how Haitian people now have the opportunity to financially help their family due to the production of items at the bakery. We also ordered pizza there and we have all decided we are staying for the pizza (sorry mom!). We headed home and really got to experience traffic here, honestly makes me feel a lot better about my driving, I seem semi-controlled now! Once we got back, some of us took advantage of the pool, and then we sat around for some team time.


Team time tonight was very deep and truly made me realize just how special each one of these ladies (and Kevin) on this are. It takes a special person to come down here and lead a group of college girls. However, I know we will all come back home with a changed perspective and the capacity of our hearts to serve will be much larger because God has called us deeper into service. We can't wait for tomorrow and to see the ways the Lord will us to be his hands and feet.


With Love From Haiti,
The Coo Girls Team (and Kevin)