Becoming comfortable…

As we moved into day five, we were given a choice of how we would like to serve. A majority of the team chose to do a few runs on the water truck in the morning, and serve at the Home for Sick and Dying Babies once again in the afternoon. The only team member to serve elsewhere was Chad, who has experience working a backhoe. Chad was able to help excavate the land and move many large rocks up at Grace Village, which he said was the hardest land he had ever worked.

As we made our way out to our first run on the water truck, it was evident how comfortable we had become, almost overnight, at our new jobs. We were thoroughly enjoying our time serving the people of Haiti. Where there was trepidation a few days earlier, now was confidence to run the water hose, organize the bucket line, and carry heavy buckets of water through winding paths to shacks far from the truck. We saw many more smiles, and heard peals of laughter ringing in the air. The heaviness of the last few days had lifted a bit as we continued serving with our new found confidence.













After a short rest at the guesthouse, we went to the Home for Sick and Dying Babies to once again serve the sick and dying children. As we entered the Home this time, it was interesting to watch all the teammates scatter to their “favorite” rooms or babies that they remembered from the previous visit. We found that all the children were still there from our previous visit, giving us relief that no children had died since Tuesday. Once again, we entered with an eagerness to serve. They had just finished having a special party for the kids, to celebrate their 19th year of operation. The little girls were all dressed in matching fancy dresses and bows in their hair, and the little boys had on matching blue pressed shirts and shorts. The older kids had been given suckers and were all in a very festive mood when we arrived. Again, the heaviness we felt during our previous visit was lifted a bit as we celebrated with the kids. There was singing and dancing, and lots of hugs. The hard part of this visit was leaving, as we knew we would not be back to see these little ones that we had become so attached to.

As light as the mood was throughout most of the day, I didn’t want to become immune to what I was seeing and experiencing around us. We were still surrounded by extreme poverty, garbage everywhere, and sickness and death. But because we had allowed God to push us out of our comfort zone, I believe we can now see God in the midst of this all. As our leader Jeff has been telling us all week, if we allow God to have His way with us, we will be amazed at what He can do through us. We have been challenged to see God in every child and adult that is put in our path, and even among the devastation, I believe we have all seen God in Haiti…in every smile, every hug, every tear, and every helping hand. God is so good, is so good, is so good!