"What a Friend We Have in Jesus"

"What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
Oh, what peace we often forfeit;
Oh, what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer
Oh what a friend we've found
What a friend we've found
What a friend we've found in You"

With droopy eyes and heavy steps I stumbled into the shower this morning at 5:30AM. The ice cold, yet refreshing water woke me right up and heard a familiar melody coming from the next shower over. I began to sing the words and found such encouragement in them, "what a friend we've found in You". This song set the tone of our day and I found myself humming along throughout our adventures.

My mom, Rebekah, and I loaded into the back of a land cruiser and bumped along the rubble filled Haitian roads. Along with a translator, we drove down small street alleys until we came to a battered, red steel gate. The clanging echos of our knocks were greeted by the smiling face of a little Haitian boy. His eyes sparkled when he saw us and he led us into the yard. Twenty teenagers sat on the floor of a crumbling building and thirty small children sat on benches under the shade of a large tree. Laughter filled the air and huge smiles appeared on all the faces of the children as we walked over to them. They quickly sacrificed their seats, arranging three chairs for us to sit on. Like sweet little angels, their voices filled the heavy air with the sweet songs they sang to greet us. We introduced ourselves to the children and my mom told them a Bible story and taught them two songs. My heart was melting, not from the heat, but from the love radiating from these children's hearts. They sang praises to Jesus with all their might, and I was so inspired by the sound of these small voices praising His name. How encouraging, and also convicting, to see these little children, who have nothing, still praise and love with more intensity and passion than I have ever seen. The Pastor who runs the orphanage showed us around the muddy lot where they live. Glass and sharp stones littered the ground and many children were without shoes. Four tents stood in the back of the property. Inside there were rickety, broken bunkbeds where the children slept. But instead of mattresses to sleep on, they had only the hard metal springs from which the bunkbed was made, with not even a blanket to lay on top of it. The conditions of the orphanage are heart breaking, and I cannot fathom living in such poverty.

Most children speak only Creole, only a couple know a few words in English. While this made it frustrating to communicate with them, a simple touch, hug, or smile transcends all language barriers. Little hands would grab mine and hands would wrap around my waist as they smiled and laughed and tried to speak with me. One little boy in particular would not let me release his hand and stayed by my side the entire time. While Rebekah and I played with the children, my mother discussed the conditions of the orphanage with the Pastor in charge. He had been out all morning searching for some food to bring for the children, but had come back empty handed. We left with the realization that none of those little children would be eating that day.

Back at the compound, we enjoyed a nice lunch of rice and beans, but our minds were with the orphans and how they would not be getting anything. We talked with one of the directors at the compound and he advised us on how to purchase food for the children. He told us "throw a stone anywhere in Haiti. Go find it and you will see there are starving children everywhere. But if you can help one child, you will make a difference." Throwing a large bag of rice and a large bag of beans into the truck, we drove back to the orphanage to deliver the food. Not expecting to see us a second time the children were overjoyed. When we stepped into the yard they all rushed over, embracing me and holding my neck, waist, arms, and hands. Little children would climb onto my lap and the older ones would touch my face and smile and laugh. I have never felt so much love.

This evening we also had our "initiation" to the compound. All the new arrivals were given a mango which we had to peel it and eat using only our teeth, as well as sugar cane stalks to chew on. It was a mess, but a delicious one. Life here is hard, but so rewarding and filled with joy. God is working here in Haiti and I am so blessed to be a part of it.

With love from Haiti...