Wake up, eat breakfast, get ready, etc.
Leave for Orphanage #3, again.
When we got there, I was greeted by dusty little brown hands grabbing mine and yelling "Joana! Joana!"
Love. Them.
We continued our work project (sand, buckets, upstairs, you know).
We finished hauling all the sand that day, which was SUPER exciting.
When we were done we hung out for the kids for a little while, just playing with them and holding them and giving them some toys/clothes/shoes/etc.
After we left Orphanage #3, we went back to the guest house to change and get cleaned up, and then headed back to Orphanage #4.
When we got there.... oh my goodness.
Cutest. Thing. Ever.
We pulled up to the gate in our huge truck and there was a little boy standing inside the gate,
jumping up and down and shouting and clapping and waving to us.
I have basically never seen a kid so excited about anything before in my whole life.
It was so so so so so adorable.
Within seconds all the kids were outside, and we were greeted by the sweetest hugs and smiles.
I went inside where some of the kids were showing us pictures and a map on their wall.
I asked one of the little girls (Esther) if I could take her picture.
(Well, really, all I said was "foto?" because I totally cannot speak Creole!)
She smiled so big and I took her picture, gorgeous girl.
Then I tried my best to ask if she wanted to take a picture with me, and her face lit up and she practically jumped into my arms.
We took a picture and she gave me the biggest hug and was literally attached to my hip almost the whole entire time we were there.
It was super sweet. We were instantly best friends.
I even taught her how to use my camera, and she very gently and carefully put the strap around her neck and held it tightly with her little hands. She was thrilled (and a pretty good photographer:))
After a while it was time for us to go.
If you've been to San Luis, this was kind of like the last night there.
They sang us the sweetest song ever and we all got in a big circle and prayed together.
There were definitely tears, from our team and the kids.
They kept asking if we were coming back, but this was our last time there.
It was so sad. Esther got down and stood and held my hand. She didn't let go even while I was hugging the other kids goodbye.
She stood there silently, holding really tight to my hand.
After a couple minutes, she looked up at me with the most innocent smile and asked in the sweetest voice,
"What is your name?"
I smiled and said "Gianna" and she jumped back into my arms, wrapped her arms around my neck, and said "Joana" and hugged me.
My heart was so happy and so sad and I hugged her and told her I loved her one last time.
Then we left.
A lot of us were really wanting to see God do some crazy miracles, and we were really excited.
However, we had one small problem... they wouldn't let us in.
Well, it's kind of hard to pray for people in a hospital if you aren't allowed in a hospital isn't it.
I think it's safe to say that we were slightly disappointed, but only slightly.
When we were walking back to the tap tap, someone asked if we could just pray for the people outside?
So we all gathered around the flag pole outside the hospital and started to pray.
It was so cool! It was like SYATP in Haiti :)
We prayed for Haiti and the people in that hospital and that God would bring healing to that country. It was a crazy moment.
When we were finished we asked some people outside if we could pray with them. Some people didn't want us too.
Then we saw a woman, her new baby, and two friends come out of the hospital. The two friends were helping her walk, and the baby was so tiny. It was pretty obvious that she had given birth very recently, maybe even that morning or the night before.
We had the honor of praying with her and baby Shakina. She was such a beautiful baby!
After praying with the woman and some others, she asked if we could drive her home. So we loaded her, the baby, her two friends, and all their bags into the tap tap with us and took them to her house.
It wasn't a very far drive, but it would have been a far and possibly dangerous walk with lots of hills and dirt, and where she lived wasn't the friendliest neighborhood. Plus, she could barely walk.
After we dropped her off I was amazed. I can't imagine how she could have possibly gotten home if we weren't there. It still amazes me to think about how perfectly God set up that moment.
We were upset at first that they wouldn't let us in the hospital because we wanted to pray with people and see God do all these crazy miracles.
But honestly, we weren't supposed to be in that hospital. We were supposed to be outside to drive that woman home.
He had heard her silent prayers and saw his daughter in need and came to her rescue.
How incredible and humbling to think that Jesus used US to be his hands and feet for her.
Wow.
God is so great. It's so awesome to think about how his plans are so much better than ours, and that he allows us to be a part of those plans. I love him.
After that, we went back to the guest house.
An incredible day in Haiti.
