Eye-opening, Contentment, and HOT! (by Laura)

Eye-Openeng, Contentment, and HOT! At the end of each day, our team gathers to "de-brief" nad talk about the days events. Tonight instead of our usual format, We played a game where each team member chose three words to describe their Haiti experience so far. In case you think this was a simple, team building game, let me tell you, it was fierce competition. At stake was coverted "shot-gun" position for tomorrows trek to the mountains; a 4 hour journey (each way) over some of the bumpiest roads in Haiti. These were the three words I chose.

Eye-opening.In Haiti, I have seen a way of life that I could not have imagined. We were invited into a typical Haitian home for a prayer service. The home was made of two 10x10 rooms of concrete block, had no windows or doors, a corrugated metal roof that you could see daylight through, no electircity, water, kitchen or bathroom, and the only furniture was a folding table, a wood hutch, and a bed. We drove through a open air market, with throngs of vendors and people and saw raw chicken, fish and meat covered in flies sitting outside in 95 degree weather. We witnessed the destruction of the 2010 earthquake and the squalor of tent cities.

Contentment. In the USA, contentment is a rare commodity. Parents spends extraordinary time and money on extravagant birthday parties, prom preparations, and private lessons for their children, because average just isn't good enough. The desire to be the first to get the newest technology has people camping out overnight at the Apple store. We can't live without a cell phone, flat screen TV, cable package...even if we Have to go into debt to gt it. In Haiti, I see a level of contentment and joy in the people, the pastors, and the missionaries. Not to say they don't hope for improved conditions in their life, but they do not let their current circumstances rob them of their joy. They choose to find joy in what they have.

Hot. Self explanatory, it is brutally hot and humid and there is little relief except the cold showers. I must admit, I am looking forward to some cool A/C in a few days:)

Overall, this has been an uncomfortable experience for me. I am a natural introvert, and recharge by being alone, and in Haiti, you are NEVER alone. I am not a real kid person, and prefer teens and adults to small children, and here thr are children clinging on you all the time. And the heat. I hate the heat.

I am glad to be in Haiti. I am glad to have seen what I have seen and have meet the people I have met. I have enjoyed the fellowship of my Brothers and sisters in Christ. And I am excited to see how God uses this experience in the future for HIS purposes and HIS glory.