"Oui, prends tout Seigneur"

"All to Jesus, I surrender,
Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with thy love and power,
Let thy blessing fall on me.
I surrender all, I surrender all;
All to Thee, my blessed Saviour,
I surrender all
Oui, prends tout Seigneur."

This hymn seems to be the theme song of my trip to Haiti, as I continually find myself being stretched and called to surrender my own desires and insecurities and to live in God's will and grace. When we sang it during morning devotions, I knew that I needed to prepare my heart for what plans God had for me that day. I had a deep conviction that His plans for my day would be outside my comfort zone. And they were.

After devotions we were given the option of going to the Titanyen local public school. Our translator told us that this school would contain about 200 children of various ages. Immediately I felt a sinking in my stomach and anxiety spreading in my mind. We had nothing prepared to share with the children, no idea of what we were going to do, and they had no idea we were about to show up and interrupt their lessons. When we arrived, the children were split up into different classes, some sitting under the shade of a tree and others sitting in crumbling rooms. The principal of the school gathered all the children together and they sat under the shade of the tree as we introduced ourselves. We then proceeded to teach them two songs and my mom told them a Bible story. Everytime we visit a place like this, my mother amazes me with her ability to communicate to the children and give such encouraging words without any prior preparation. She is really amazing and so gifted as a leader.

When we were done talking to the children as a group, we were introduced to all the teachers and then returned to the school yard. Some children walked up to Rebekah and I and we started attempting to talk with them (the language barrier is a continual frustration) and playing hand games. One of the children led me to a few benches in the back where I sat and interacted with some of the older children while Rebekah stayed in the front with some of the younger ones. The children made room for me to sit on the bench with them and talked with me and laughed when I tried to pronounce things in Creole. One of the girls started playing with my hair so I took it out of the bun. When my hair fell down my shoulders all of the kids gasped in delight and she began to style it using headbands and clips some of the children had donated. The little girls I was sitting with had some foam stickers that they stuck onto my chest, one of a heart and the other a cross. Since these children were part of a public school and not an orphanage, they acted very different from the other ones. They taught us many hand games and group games, but some of them seemed a bit questionable and some of their gestures were a bit raunchy. But as a whole they were extremely loving children and we enjoyed spending time with them.

That afternoon Rebekah and I got an opportunity to ride in the Samaritan's Purse helicopter from our compound to another compound across the bay. It was a forty-minute trip total, and the view was incredible. Flying over the land was shocking, for the destruction of the earthquake was so evident compared to driving along the road. Some buildings were completely flatted, with the roof collapsed onto the ground. Others still had crumbling walls, a shadow of what had once been. While many remained only a pile of rubble and dust. Surrounding these areas were large fields of IDP camps with sheets and tents for homes. The beautiful Haitian countryside so sharply contrasts the devastation of its people.

Once again that evening, some of our friends here all gathered on the soccer field and we played ultimate frisbee for a few hours. Tomorrow will be the one week anniversary of our arrival and mark the one week time period of our departure. Time has gone by so slowly and so fast all at the same time, and I don't think I will be ready to leave. Life here is much harder, yet so much more rewarding and each moment we have left is precious.



With love from Haiti...