Surrender

Surrender

I arrived in Haiti on July 2^nd.  When I look back over the past 3 months, I am amazed at how much I have learned.  I speak some Creole, I wash my own clothes by hand, I know how to treat a variety of medical ailments, I am a mother to 61 children, and I am continuing to learn more about Haitian culture each day.  I am amazed at how much the Lord has taught me.  I have learned that I need to trust God to use me to love and serve the people in Haiti.  God has shown me the importance of completely relying on Him.  The song “Have Your Way” by Elizabeth Hunnicutt has been a great reminder to allow the Lord to use me.  I listen to it every morning.  Below you will see some of the lyrics.

Open hearts and open hands

Open up our minds to you

We are longing, we are searching

Guide us in the way of truth

We are listening…

We are listening…

Have your way

Have your way

Holy Spirit, come and have your way

Have your way

Have your way,

Holy Spirit come and have your way

We surrender,

To your power

We surrender,

To your whisper

I am so thankful that God called me to Haiti.  My heart beats so strong for the Haitian people.  I have now been in Haiti for about 90 days.  In order for me to continue living in Haiti, I need to leave the country and get my passport stamped.  Then, I may return for another 90 days. I am so thankful that I was blessed with the finances to leave the country.  I did not know where the needed $600 would come from, but prayed that the Lord would provide for me.  God is so faithful and an anonymous donation of exactly $600 appeared in my missionary donation account!  Can you believe it?  The exact amount that was needed appeared!  Wow, God provides for all of my needs and blesses me richly.  Tomorrow, Jess and I will leave for the Dominican Republic.  We plan to take a coach bus, about an 8 hour ride, to Santo Domingo.  We will be taking a taxi to our hotel in Boca Chica.  It will be a beautiful week of rest, relaxation, exploring, and experiencing the other side of this beautiful island.  I will blog when I return to let you know about my adventures. 

Serving Haiti

Loving the children in Cite Soleil.  We sang songs, talked in Creole, and danced.

What a beautiful week!  God has stretched me and challenged me in many ways.  I often thought, "What is God trying to teach me?".  I was blessed with the opportunity to join the Healing Haiti Team of short-term missionaries from my home church in Minnesota.  In January of 2012, I experienced being a part of one of these teams and the week was life-changing.  During that trip, the Lord called me into ministry in Haiti.

Waiting in line for clean water.

I have so many stories to share.  It was difficult to decide what moments to highlight.  Two days we delivered clean water in Cite Soleil.  Cite Soleil is considered the slums of Haiti and is the poorest part of Haiti.  The adults and children ran after our truck carrying 5 gallon buckets racing to get to the font of the line.  Hundreds of people waited for clean water.  This water is used to cook, do laundry, drink, and bathe.  Water is a source of life and this community depends on it to survive.  

We also went to the Home of Sick and Dying Children.  It is similar to a children's hospital.  It is a new, beautiful facility.  There are about 25 cribs in each room.  Families are encouraged to visit their children every day.  Some families live in the country and it is impossible to get transportation to the hospital.  If families are unable to visit their children, there are many people who care for them.  Their ages range from 3 months to about 8 years old.  

While we were at the hospital we held children, sang to them, and prayed for them.  They are all so precious.  Many of the children have a variety of illnesses, but most are malnourished.  I was so thankful to see the baby (3 months old) I held  3 days ago no longer needed an I.V.  I sat on a stool holding her.  I noticed that a one year old boy (who was so frail he looked as though he was about 12 pounds) had inched his way up the slope in his crib to get as close as he could to me.  He reached between the metal bars of his crib and grabbed my finger.  We made silly faces at each other and made funny noises with our tongues.  We smiled and laughed together.  There was another boy who brought me such sadness.  His crib was in the corner.  He wore a loose fitting top with no pants or diaper.  It looked as though he had burns all over his body.  His hands were bundled and were tied to the edge of the crib.  He whimpered.  Then, would give a loud yell.  When I looked at him and talked in Creole to him he would look at me with the biggest, deep, brown eyes.  I sang to him a lullaby and gently stroked his forehead.  I could see a peace about him.  He was in pain, but needed someone to be next to him.  To be there.  This boy reminded me of the difficult times in life.  Throughout life, there is much heartache and pain.  There is illness and disappointment.  I am so thankful that through all of life's ups and downs I can depend on the Lord.  He is my comfort, my savior, and my peace.  He will never leave me.  No matter what I am going through, the Lord is with me.  He will walk me through the storms of life.  Holding my hand every step of the way.   

Birthday Celebration

Last night, we all gathered in the Feeding Center (cafeteria) and celebrated 2 birthdays.  What a fun celebration!  The birthday boys stood up in front and shared what they were thankful for in their life.  Both boys thanked Jesus for providing for them and loving them.  We sang songs as one boy played the drum.  He has great rhythm.  Then, the children were asked to share a special story about the boys or a song.  Many children sang a song to the boys.  They took turns singing into the microphone.  We even sang Happy Birthday Haitian style!  We all danced and clapped.  The children love to see me dance.  I dance "the pigeon".  Many of you may know this dance.  I bend my knees and flap them together as I wave my hands in front of them.  They love to dance this dance with me.  Many children have expanded on my dance moves and now move their arms in all kinds of directions as they flap their knees together.  Some children even bend down to the floor as they keep flapping their knees.  This takes much more muscle than I have.  Sometimes, the boys pretend to hold a camera and videotape me dancing.  Sometimes, they pretend to hold a remote control and point it at me to tell me to keep dancing.  We have so much fun!

Before bed, one little girl was crying.  She was sad because she didn't know her birthday.  It broke my heart.  Never in her life has she celebrated a birthday.  There are a few handfuls of children who do not know their birthday.  Hopefully, we will be able to help them find out when their birthday is and celebrate their life with them!  

Contact Lenses

The other night my eyes were so dry that my contact lens flipped out of my eye.  The children were so surprised.  I tried to explain to them I have glasses that I wear on my eyeballs.  They thought this was so strange.  They were curious, yet puzzled.  They wanted to see my contacts.  So, I told them they could watch me take them out in the evening.  It was hilarious!  About 15 children huddled around me as close as they could get and watched me remove my contacts.  In unison, they said, "whoa!" as I took out the first contact.  I explained that the eye doctor gave me a prescription for my eyes.  Instead of wearing glasses, I wear contacts.  They couldn't believe that a little, clear circle was placed on my eye to help me see.  I tried to explain all of this in Creole the best I could.  Later, I saw some of them talking with other children that didn't watch me take out my contacts.  The other children thought I removed my eyeballs when I slept and put them back in each morning.  I explained to them that I did not remove my eyeballs.  I removed my contacts.  Each morning I put new contacts on my eyes.  They were very excited to watch me put my contacts in the next day.  They are intrigued by my contacts.  Throughout the day, they mimic me taking out my contacts and as they pretend to remove them they say, "Bloop, bloop".  They giggle and think it is so funny.