Our church had VBS last week, and as wonderful as it was, I got sick--well a few of us got sick in the preschool department. I thought it was funny that I spent a week with Haitian orphans and children and came back fit as a fiddle, but one week with American preschoolers did me in! :) But, in all seriousness, it was a WONDERFUL week at VBS and I learned so much from the kids and from our time sharing songs and bible stories with them. So grateful that we have time to be a part of important things like this before we leave for Africa! God uses each little thing as a teaching moment for us and we are soaking it all in!
Kathryn is doing great! We get some updates from her on occasion. If you haven't read her blog here is a link: A Servant Life . She will be in Haiti for 6 more weeks, and I know God is doing some amazing things through her and the rest of the Praying Pelican team and volunteers serving in Haiti and elsewhere this summer. Continue to pray for health and for beautiful experiences that can shape her life and the lives of those she encounters. We love you Kathryn!! Day 2 - Sunday - June 3, 2012
We all slept pretty well last night. I woke up a lot, worried my fan batteries would run out or that I had been attacked by mosquitoes, but all was well. One of the groups had to be at church at 6am, so we were up at 5am with them...but we still love them.. haha. I got up and read and let Kathryn lay on my mattress for a while so she could stretch out from her ENO hammock position. At about 6:30 every one was getting up and starting to get ready. Brandon and the guys were already dressed and had eaten by the time I got out there to get some bread and peanut butter. The mornings in Haiti are beautiful and the guys were soaking it in on the roof listening to the church service going on next to us that had been at it since 6am and was still going strong! (not to mention there were people flooding out of the doors and sitting outside listening!)
We attended a church in Gressier, where we will be working this week. Cassie, Almondo, and Phito's family attend this church. We actually got to see Cassie and Almondo's house for a quick potty break. She told us that Almondo built most of it! It was wonderful and had a beautiful little garden in the back yard! Just up the mountain was the church, we arrived as Sunday School was ending (all in the same room, even the kids - who were most impressive paying attention the entire time for all 3 hours of the following service!) The church itself was in construction, but where the windows and doors were missing, God replaced them with the most spectacular view and a much needed breeze. It reminded me of Nichole Nordeman's song "Gratitude" in the 2nd verse where she says "A starry sky offers a better view if no roof is overhead". While they had a roof, it was a breathtaking experience worshiping the Creator in view of His creation.
The Service lasted about 3 hours and it got pretty hot as the morning progressed, but we didn't even look at our watches. Each moment was so Spirit-filled that the hours passed like minutes. How contrary to how we 'do church' (which is the wrong way to think of it...but true). We schedule out our songs and sermons to be sure that we don't go over 45 minutes or our congregations will start getting antsy and probably hop churches if they have to sit there for more than an hour. We as Christians have GOT to get used to praising God with ALL we have, EVERY moment of the day and ENJOYING it... otherwise, you may want to re-evaluate your eternity, because that is what you will spend it doing if you reach the Pearly Gates. No football, no TV, and no JOBS --- Just singing and praising the Creator of the Universe. It was eye-opening, to say the least. They sang at least 10 different hymns, singing EACH verse and repeating most of them twice. (We grumble when we have to sing all 5 verses and usually end up cutting some out, am I wrong?) There was an amazing point in the service where we literally said "Alleluia" for at least 10 minutes straight. Not changing tone, no music in the background, no showy interludes - just Alleluia. Each time the word left the lips of the church it was sweeter somehow, it was more reverent, it was bleeding with repentance and gratitude and with Love for a God who is ALIVE and who hears us when we praise Him. Just Alleluia. If that wasn't powerful enough, for 3 minutes we 'let our hands praise Him' and in silence we reached up to the sky and channelled our hearts through our fingertips - the emotion in the room was tangible as we reached as high as we could.
The songs were interspersed with beautiful moments of prayer. One of the most unforgettable moments was when the minister asked everyone to pray simultaneously. Each person bowed their head and OUT LOUD began to pour their hearts out to the Father. I prayed as well, but I couldn't help but be in awe of the faithfulness around me. I peeked... and what I saw stays with me and I pray it never leaves. The faces of God's people, unashamedly calling on Him, confessing to Him, asking of Him, thanking Him, and with such fervor. The voices mingled and rose and, I can imagine, were a sweet melody of honesty to our Lord. It sure convicts a 25 year old Christian of 17 years who is still shaky about leading prayer or talking about her faith. If I can't be strong and courageous when speaking to my Heavenly Father... how can I not be terrified when facing the enemy? What beautiful conviction and a challenge to me just from seeing the deep faith of our brothers and sisters. If I could thank them for anything, it would be just that.
It was also communion Sunday. Before uncovering the bread and the wine, the pastor took at least 20 minutes to talk to his church about the importance of the act of taking communion, as well as the severity of partaking of the bread and the wine while still having unconfessed and unrepented sin in your life, or while serving anything in your life more than God and His Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ. He reminded us all that to come to the Lord's table, your heart must be true, must be clean, and must be broken. Because God is the one who cleanses us, who heals our brokenness, and who replaces the darkness of our hearts with light and truth. I evaluated myself and repented of my doubt and lack of faith, for questioning aspects of my life that I know He is in control of, for my attitude and for my lack of sincerity every other time I have eaten the bread and tasted the wine. It was not a just a tradition with little, stale squares of bread and grape juice where we sit in silence with our mouths dry waiting for the Pastor to say, drink this, so we can rinse the taste of fake bread out of our mouths (maybe I'm just talking about me, but I doubt it). The wine and the bread had a very deep meaning and caused me to look inward and see just how incredible Jesus' sacrifice of His body was, and how meaningful His blood was - it served as the new blood covenant between God and His creation, making the way for us to be redeemed from the clutches of sin and bought us back from the possession of the serpent. What have I been thinking about every other time? How can we not see the seriousness of this act of worship? I am so grateful to have been a part of this service!
We got to talk to Cassie on the way back from church about her life and path to becoming a full-time missionary in Haiti. It was extremely helpful and insightful, and reassured us that we don't have to have all the answers, we don't have to be 'brave' and we don't have to know what we're doing... We just have to give our lives to God and let him work through us - because anything we do pales in comparison to the work of the Spirit of God. Thank God! :) Lunch and then we head to the orphanage from 2-4!
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SO the orphanage was amazing... It started off with an inspiring encounter with the director, Sister Mona. She spoke wonderful english and was so joyful and loving. She told us that she had mentioned to her sister earlier that morning that she wished she could get some flip flops for the kids - and out of the 4 suitcases we brought to Haiti, the one we were bringing to donate to the orphanage was FULL of flipflops (among other things). When we told her that we had brought her at least 50 pairs, she just laugh and with wonderment said "I didn't even pray for that, I just said it to my sister! Isn't God so great! When we live in faith, God can take care of us without even asking Him." Brandon also remembered her saying that she lives a life of complete faith in God for provision, for everything, because it was so much easier to live that way - not having to worry or be burdened. She prayed over us and thanked us for coming, but we all knew that we were the ones who had been blessed by the servant spirit of God's chosen, Ms. Mona.
We were then thrust into a 2 hour play session - Angela was swarmed by overjoyed children as she brought out the stickers and frisbees. She threw me some and you would have thought we were passing out gold! They piled on us, sticking out their hands and saying 'you! Ban Mwen!' meaning, you...give me! We played on the swings, took about a hundred pictures, frisbeed, basketballed, soccered, and see sawed until we couldn't stand up any longer. They were just beautiful, happy children. Aside from them wanting our water, watches, cameras, and rings, they were completely content just hanging on us
and hugging us and playing with us. God's children are found in every country, in every city, in every village and tribe, and in each orphanage. It was liberating to just love them, for the short time we were there, to play with all our might, and to hug with all our hearts. It is no wonder Jesus loved the little children, and as followers of Jesus, it is sure hard not to. We will continue to pray for Sister Mona and the wonderful work she is doing in the community and in the lives of the children there. We will also pray for the children, that they will continue to live in the way of the Lord after leaving GSO.
For more information on the Good Shepherd Orphanage & School Foundation please visit www.gsohaiti.org. They have many sponsorship programs and ways to give and list a full overview of what they do - which is A LOT. If you're looking for a way to give, consider this in prayer, as Sister Mona is certainly a wonderful steward of this facility and the children in the orphanage as well as in the surrounding neighborhood.
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We got home about 5:30, exhuasted but in a state of joy. We showered and had some time to rest before dinner and worship. Brandon and I took our malaria medicine and that's where things got hairy... We both ended up throwing up, (remember how I felt sick on Saturday?) Apparently the number 1 side effect of Doxycycline is vomiting - yuck. SO in lieu of feeling sick every day and not being able to eat anything - we decided that faith in God was stronger than any medicine and certainly stronger than any mosquitos! (Thanks be to God that none of us saw more than 2 the entire time we were there!!!) We will be looking into other options and considering what to do when we go to Africa. We didn't have a problem taking the medicine before the trip, but while in Haiti, and out in the sun, the effects got the best of us. One girl took hers at night and didn't feel any of the nausea, but the day she forgot and took it in the morning she threw up... so we can always try to take it at night! we just don't want the sick feeling to get in the way of God's ministry - but we know he can take care of us with the medicine (maybe taking away the vomiting!) or without it (protecting our bodies from malaria in order for us to continue to serve him totally). Our God is an Awesome God... if we have faith in Him, there is nothing that is impossible!
We shared our experiences of the day in worship and enjoyed an evening of singing praises on the roof once again...it was a beautiful end to an incredible day.
Lord, please keep us safe tomorrow so that we may be most effective in working for your kingdom. Keep our attitudes focused on you and your love. Thank you for the understanding of what was making us sick and protect Brandon and I as we try to make the best decision and quit taking the medicine while we are here. Lord, give us strength, courage, and patience. We love you. Thank you for your Son and for giving us the opportunity to serve. Amen.
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SO the orphanage was amazing... It started off with an inspiring encounter with the director, Sister Mona. She spoke wonderful english and was so joyful and loving. She told us that she had mentioned to her sister earlier that morning that she wished she could get some flip flops for the kids - and out of the 4 suitcases we brought to Haiti, the one we were bringing to donate to the orphanage was FULL of flipflops (among other things). When we told her that we had brought her at least 50 pairs, she just laugh and with wonderment said "I didn't even pray for that, I just said it to my sister! Isn't God so great! When we live in faith, God can take care of us without even asking Him." Brandon also remembered her saying that she lives a life of complete faith in God for provision, for everything, because it was so much easier to live that way - not having to worry or be burdened. She prayed over us and thanked us for coming, but we all knew that we were the ones who had been blessed by the servant spirit of God's chosen, Ms. Mona. 
We were then thrust into a 2 hour play session - Angela was swarmed by overjoyed children as she brought out the stickers and frisbees. She threw me some and you would have thought we were passing out gold! They piled on us, sticking out their hands and saying 'you! Ban Mwen!' meaning, you...give me! We played on the swings, took about a hundred pictures, frisbeed, basketballed, soccered, and see sawed until we couldn't stand up any longer. They were just beautiful, happy children. Aside from them wanting our water, watches, cameras, and rings, they were completely content just hanging on us 
and hugging us and playing with us. God's children are found in every country, in every city, in every village and tribe, and in each orphanage. It was liberating to just love them, for the short time we were there, to play with all our might, and to hug with all our hearts. It is no wonder Jesus loved the little children, and as followers of Jesus, it is sure hard not to. We will continue to pray for Sister Mona and the wonderful work she is doing in the community and in the lives of the children there. We will also pray for the children, that they will continue to live in the way of the Lord after leaving GSO.
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We got home about 5:30, exhuasted but in a state of joy. We showered and had some time to rest before dinner and worship. Brandon and I took our malaria medicine and that's where things got hairy... We both ended up throwing up, (remember how I felt sick on Saturday?) Apparently the number 1 side effect of Doxycycline is vomiting - yuck. SO in lieu of feeling sick every day and not being able to eat anything - we decided that faith in God was stronger than any medicine and certainly stronger than any mosquitos! (Thanks be to God that none of us saw more than 2 the entire time we were there!!!) We will be looking into other options and considering what to do when we go to Africa. We didn't have a problem taking the medicine before the trip, but while in Haiti, and out in the sun, the effects got the best of us. One girl took hers at night and didn't feel any of the nausea, but the day she forgot and took it in the morning she threw up... so we can always try to take it at night! we just don't want the sick feeling to get in the way of God's ministry - but we know he can take care of us with the medicine (maybe taking away the vomiting!) or without it (protecting our bodies from malaria in order for us to continue to serve him totally). Our God is an Awesome God... if we have faith in Him, there is nothing that is impossible!
We shared our experiences of the day in worship and enjoyed an evening of singing praises on the roof once again...it was a beautiful end to an incredible day.
Lord, please keep us safe tomorrow so that we may be most effective in working for your kingdom. Keep our attitudes focused on you and your love. Thank you for the understanding of what was making us sick and protect Brandon and I as we try to make the best decision and quit taking the medicine while we are here. Lord, give us strength, courage, and patience. We love you. Thank you for your Son and for giving us the opportunity to serve. Amen.
(For ALL the many pictures of the kids and the rest of the pics from day 1 and 2 visit the facebook album here: haiti 2012 )
