Day 7 and Day 8 in Haiti

Day 7- Friday (4-8-16)

While we have been in Haiti, I have been catching up on various readings in the morning before we leave for the crèche. One thing I have been doing is filling in some gaps of a bible study I just completed with the women at church. It is a great study, but I missed a couple of lessons. This morning’s reading reminded me of what it means to abide in Christ. This was a wonderful reminder of what it means to remain in Christ, to remain faithful and know that He is faithful through all things. I’m sure I will be rereading this passage during our wait to return for the boys.

This morning we were solo for breakfast. Alison, our point person, travelled down to Port-au-Prince to pick up another adoptive family who was coming to meet their son. It was fun and exciting to see this family united. We also enjoyed their company a lot because their son is the same age as C, so now he has a buddy to play with while we are hanging out.

“A” went to his class a little more willingly today. Because it was Friday the teacher said they would be doing a craft and playing games. After what seemed like an hour (the length of his class) A comes running out with a smile, looking for his Daddy. I never saw evidence of a craft, but I think he felt like he had served his time at school. J

After a good day of hugs and love, we decided to hike down to the guesthouse from the crèche. There seemed to be more activity around the crèche today because the school kids, who normally have to spend time with a tutor doing homework, had the afternoon off because it was Friday.

Juvenal was our guide on this adventure. He works at C4C’s medical clinic that is located directly across from the crèche and lives at the guesthouse where we are staying. The road to the crèche is winding, up the side of a mountain and the scenery is breathtaking, but I can’t get a good picture from the van, so Juvenal said he would lead us on a hike.  It was quite an adventure, proving exactly how out of shape I really am. We meandered down the mountain and even found some new paths that Juvenal had never taken. The pictures will never do justice to the natural beauty of this country. After about an hour, we arrived back at the guesthouse in time to shower and change before dinner.

The views we were blessed to see are a beautiful reminder of God’s greatness, His faithfulness, and His sovereignty. The Creator of the world is in control of our story…it only makes sense to abide in his unfailing love.

View from our hike 

Day 8- Saturday 4-9-16

This morning, as I read 2 Corinthians 4: 8-11, I could not help but think about the people of Haiti. Yesterday, during our hike we were exposed to the extreme beauty of God’s natural creation, but we must not deny the extreme poverty and struggle that exists among His people living here. This passage so beautifully describes what I observe among His people in Haiti.

We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not destroyed – always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

His people here are resilient and nearly always find something to be happy about. We have been blessed by getting to spend time with them.

Today, we were excited to spend some quality quiet time with the boys and the other adoptive family who is here. K’s family brought him a toy guitar, and I quickly realized that we must add that to our list because A loved it. He was so cute while he danced and jammed out to the music. While he was a little distracted it gave C an opportunity to spend some time with Joey, so they took a walk and did some exploring.

While at the crèche, I had a short opportunity to hold and love one of the sweet boys who is sick. He has good days and bad days and today was a bad day. He is really too big to be held, but every child needs someone to hold them when they are sick. He doesn’t speak much English, but he understood my offer to hold him. I enjoyed him snuggling in my lap for a little while.

Today was also the first day since our trip that we have been able to break into the circle of the older girls. We didn’t have too much conversation, but they were a little more interested in talking. One of the sweet girls is the child we sponsor, her smile is beautiful and her heart is so kind. I was very happy to meet her and have enjoyed getting to talk with her some. She is very quiet, but she understands a lot of what we say.

Today has been a week since we arrived; we desperately miss Molly and Lincoln back home, but know that our time with the boys is so limited.