As usual the drive was long, bumpy and another rude reminder of the brutal reality of the struggle the Haitians are living in but when we arrived that all changed. We pulled up and Pastor Daniel came down the hill to greet us all with a huge smile, handshake and even a hug if you wanted - I got all 3! He then walked with us up the hill and into their school The school of course by our standards is more of a shed: concrete slab and 2x4's with particle board and a tin roof, but what was inside was beautiful - the children.
We walked into a 9-12 year old room and they greeted us with with wide open eyes of curiosity and you could feel the excitement in the room that we were there. They then welcomed us with a song that brought tears to my eyes - just such an innocent thank you but so warming to the heart.
Pastor Daniel then asked us to go into his church which was across the street so we could meet all of the children. At that time I new this was going to be a great day not only for me but also for God as he would be so happy to see the Haitian children laughing and smiling.
We went through our lesson plan and some crafting with them and then ate lunch. During that time we interacted with the children for the first time and they enjoyed looking at us, from all angles and even touching us and believe it or not they loved my grey hair - pretty funny. There was even one little boy that was rubbing the top of my head as well as Nate's another grey hair fella on the trip - pretty priceless in our eyes.
Once the meal was over we broke into play-time. I wish I could tell you that we went to a park filled with green grass and a jungle gym but we went to the back of the school and played on concrete. The beauty of it is that the kids thought they were playing in Grant Park - they were in heaven! These children had soooo much fun it was amazing and they had nothing on the amount of fun all of us had playing with them - we were the lucky ones.
I just wish I could share with you the joy I had inside just watching these kids play. It was probably one of the greatest days of my life (and I have 2 more days with them) - just amazing and as I hear often and believe, it truly was a "God Thing."
I will speak for myself but I am sure my fellow missionaries would say the same; and that is that we are all so grateful for your help in allowing us to travel to Haiti, work with World Relief and see what great things are being done and most importantly to work with these children as they have and will continue to change our lives and we can only hope to add to theirs along with the help of God.
Again, to my supporters, friends and family - thank you so very much for this opportunity - I can't wait to fill you in on more details.
Continue to keep us in your prayers!
Derek
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