Called.: Haiti Day 2!

Day 2:

I have in my journal that we (Ashlee, Lindsay, Christina, Kylee, Keely and I) woke up at 7:47.
In case you wanted the specifics ;)

We got up and got ready. Getting ready in Haiti basically consisted of getting dressed, french braiding everyone's hair, and covering ourselves from head to toe in sunscreen and bug spray.
Then we ate breakfast and got in the tap tap to start our journey in Haiti!

I sat in the front with Omega and Menold. I found it extremely amusing that I was in the front of a huge truck with two Haitians. It was a really fun drive and they taught me SO much about Haiti, and some Creole.
One thing that really struck me was when we drove past a huge statue of three hands holding a globe. I asked Menold about it, and he told me it was a statue to a spirit that they worship that has three hands. A demon. Woah.

We stopped at a gas station and Menold got out to get some ice. A man came up to the window and was staring at me. I thought this was super weird. Omega thought this was HILARIOUS. He explained to me that, in Haiti, it is perfectly acceptable to stare at someone if you want to. Seriously. No one thinks anything of it. He said "sometimes a Haitian man, he see a nice girl, and he want to stare at her until he get his fill, cause he see a nice girl and he like her, and he want to stare at her, ees okay"

Then we went to a market to get some mangos for the kids. We would be going to 2 orphanages that day.

Here's a fun fact about Haiti: THERE ARE LOTS OF ANIMALS. Dogs, pigs, goats, and chickens pretty much roam the streets. There are donkeys and horses and cows too. Lots of them. It freaked me out a little that the cows were so skinny. Like you could see their ribs. It reminded me of the cows in Pharaoh's dream in that one Bible story about the famine. There are also peacocks apparently, but we'll get to that another time.

Here we go!

Driving through Haiti

The market. (this one was obviously nothing like our grocery stores)

We got to the first orphanage, which I will refer to as Orphanage #1.
It was pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Like when you picture an orphanage in the depths of a third world country, you picture this orphanage. It was basically the dirt ground, some trees, a chicken roaming around, two buildings, and a pavilion type thing with tarps for walls.

Then the kids came out.
They came out and RAN to us. Immediately they held up their arms and wanted us to pick them up.
Then I met Tito.
I thought that she was maybe 6, but I could be wrong. As soon as she saw me, from far away, her eyes LIT UP, she gasped, smiled so big, and ran straight towards me with her arms up like she had known me all her life and was expecting me.
When she got to me, I couldn't pick her up fast enough. She dug her little fingernails into my arms and practically climbed up me, almost frantically. When I was holding her she held on really tight and barely moved. She didn't say a word. She didn't smile. She didn't wrap her legs around my waist like kids usually do when you hold them. She just kind of... hung there and held on to me.
I didn't know any Creole except to say hi to her, so we just kind of looked at each other for a while and then she pointed at my sunglasses. I took them off and put them on her, which she was very excited about. She pointed at my camera so I took some pictures, but she didn't smile for any of them. (Elaina got one of her smiling, THANK YOU :))

We hung out and played with the kids for a while, then it was time for the Bible story.
Pastor Anthony (and Peter) told them the story of when a shepherd had 100 sheep and one got lost, so he left the 99 and went to find the one and when he did he was thrilled and carried it home and took care of it. So we made up this game, where some people from our team were shepherds and the kids were sheep. The rest of us stood together and we were the sheep pen. The kids had to run around and the shepherds would tag them, and then when they got tagged they had to go in the pen. He told us to put the kids down so they could play the game.

They cried.
They wanted held.
Most of them played, but some of them didn't want to. Some just sat down on the ground and cried.
I pointed to the other kids and Tito nodded, so I put her down. She didn't reach for me to pick her back up, but she stayed really close to me and didn't go with the other kids. I pointed again and she nodded, but still didn't go.
Then she held my hand, and I looked down and there were tears streaming down her cheeks.
Oh my goodness.
I picked her back up right away and she wrapped her little hands around my neck and buried her face in my shoulder and just cried. She cried really softly and it was just so genuinely sad and it broke my heart.
When they played the game, the kids didn't even wait to be tagged, they just ran to the pen and hugged us! They were all smiles. Then Pastor Anthony told them the story and told them how God loves them and they are special and he will take care of them and provide for all their needs. They all listened to the story and it was such a beautiful thing. We got to pray over them, and then we all took a picture.

Then they were passing out the mangos, which Tito was thrilled about and actually got down and went to get one. While she was gone I got to hold a beautiful little baby girl :) Most of the kids didn't have underwear or diapers, and she was one of them. I didn't realize it until she peed on me :) But I didn't mind. Then one of the older girls at the orphanage took her and then Tito came back. I held her until the second we had to leave, then I said goodbye and gave her a huge hug and kiss and put her down. She hugged me one more time and then ran away.

Tito and I :)

Photo credits to Elaina Murray for the above two pictures!

Hanging out with the kids :)

Look at that smile ♥

Beautiful girl.

Another beauty :)

They loved our cameras :)

Oh yeah I forgot to mention, we brought water balloons and they loved them!!

Listening to the Bible story

Our team and the kids :)

Thankful for a pastor who is such an awesome example to us!

Baby girl :)

Her sad little face :(

Then we drove to Orphanage #2!
On the way there we passed some women working. I'm not exactly sure what they were doing, but there was lots of coal and they were working very hard. Omega stopped and Menold talked to them for a minute.
We got to the next orphanage and it was basically as in the middle of nowhere as the first one. There were some houses around, but nothing like houses in America of course. When we got out of the tap tap outside the orphanage gate, there were some children standing there. I went over and said hi to them. The littlest girl had a shirt on that was dirty and too small for her. That's all she had on. She was crying, and one of other girls picked her up and handed her to me. I held her for a little but she was so scared and wanted me to put her down. It was sad.
Then we walked in to the orphanage. It was one building and a little bit of dirt ground outside. There was a porch type thing on the building, except it was really hard for the little kids to climb up. They needed some steps.
The children in this orphanage, unlike the first, go to both school and church. They even knew a little English!
We played with the children for awhile, and then most of the guys left to get propane for the orphanage, because they had just run out and couldn't cook their food (I think that's what happened!)
I met a little girl named Evelin. We instantly became best friends. She held my hand for a long time and smiled so big. She kept hugging me and wanting to take pictures.
We played with the kids and waited for the rest of our group to come back. After a while I asked if we could do the Bible story?
So, then the coolest thing of my whole entire life happened.

I got to teach it.

Aaahhhhhh!
I couldn't believe, and still can't believe, that I was standing in the middle of Haiti teaching a Bible story at an orphanage. Wow. It was such an INCREDIBLE privilege and blessing and hopefully the first time of many that God will allow me to do something like that.
The kids listened so intently and when I talked about the sheep they all made sheep noises. Haha!
Then I got to pray over them too, which was just as much of a privilege and blessing as teaching the story.
It felt so right.
It felt like what I'm going to do for the rest of my life.
Wow. I'm still amazed.

Then some of the kids wanted to sing for us.
One little boy started to sing us a song in Creole.
But part of it was in English.
He started to sing, at the top of his lungs,
"I am freeeeeee, I am freeeeeee, I am free, in Jesus' name!"
AH. I want every orphan to know that. Every person to know that. That's our goal, our purpose as Christians. Until the whole world hears.
Major Jesus tears.

Then we played with them some more. Evelin let go of my hand and ran off to play, and I sat on the wall and looked around and watched all the kids running and playing.
Then she came over and gently slipped her hand back into mine. She looked up at me and I looked down at her, and a tear rolled down her cheek. I asked what was wrong in English, and I'm not sure if she understood me, but I lifted her up next to me on the wall and she showed me her foot.
I'm not sure what happened, but she had a cut across the bottom of her foot, right below her toes. It was probably an inch or so long. It was bleeding. She gripped my hand so tight and silently cried.
I asked Doug (the missionary we were working with) if he could ask what happened, but he didn't know how. Peter had fallen asleep. I felt helpless.
I babysit a lot, and I'm used to knowing what to do and having whatever I need to do it. If a child is crying, I make it all better. If they're hurt, I fix it.
But this time I couldn't. Her feet were dirty, the ground was dirty, everything was dirty and she didn't have shoes. I had no water, no neosporin, no band-aids. I couldn't even talk to her because I didn't know any Creole.
So I picked her up and cuddled her in her lap and prayed. She cried.
Someone told me there was water in the bathroom inside, so I carried her in to get water, but she refused to go in. I wasn't sure why. She kept pointing outside. So I took her back out and we sat down again. Back to square one.

Doug was able to get a bucket of water and a bar of soap. I held her and he poured it on her foot. Then I helped her wash it off. Even though she'd just have to walk on the dirty ground in her bare feet again, I was amazed and humbled at the beauty of his moment.
Jesus washed his disciples' feet. (John 13:1-17)
How incredible that I got to do the same thing for one of his children.

I picked her back up in my lap, hugged her tight, and thanked God for allowing me to be apart of this amazing thing and for using me in this way.
Glory to God ♥

Then she pointed to the orphanage so I carried her inside, and she got down. She hopped on one foot to her room, motioning for me to come too. She pulled out a pair of flip flops from under her bed, which she was VERY proud to show me. They were dirty, but definitely not as dirty as the ground. She excitedly put them on, grabbed my hand, and walked back outside. She was limping but smiling from ear to ear. She held my hand until we had to leave.
I'll never forget that sweetie.

The women working with coal

Again

Orphanage #2 :)

Karli and a beautiful little girl :)

Evelin and I when we first met :)

Sweetie.

Water balloons - huge hit!

Bible story ♥ Photo credits to Nina Quinn!

Kylee and another cutie :)

Beautiful children

Mangos!

Everyone!

Saying goodbye

♥

After we left Orphanage #2, we drove to the mass grave of the earthquake victims.

It wasn't like a memorial in America. It wasn't elaborate or fancy or anything.

It was basically a bunch of crosses on a mountain/hill.

Standing there and looking around... wow. It was such a crazy moment.

So much was going through my head.

I knew that thousands were buried where I was standing.

I remembered watching the news and crying for this beautiful country two years ago.

And now I was standing there.

I thought of Tito and Evelin and all the other children who probably wouldn't have been in those orphanages if their parents weren't where I was standing.

My heart broke and I cried for those children missing their mommies and daddies.

But my heart also rejoiced because I remembered that little boy singing I am free in Jesus' name.

Because God has a plan for this,

and our good God gives good things.

And those are HIS children. This is HIS country.

And He loves these children and this country.

So much heartbreak, but so much hope.