Monday- 3-08 -- Last full day

Jim was certainly a more responsible “blogger” on his visit then I have been. The days whiz by and then exhaustion hits. Yesterday, being Sunday, began early as the make shift church that was originally the gravel area that housed the girls across from Marie’s was a flurry of activity. Chairs were all carried to the area (it was so great to see the church all set up with chairs which were donated from Wheatland Salem church that came on the shipping container last spring) Bricks were stacked to make a podium and musical instruments were “warming up”. The position of how the church collapsed spared the drum set and (antique) sound system – but the microphone worked none the less as long as you stood in a specific spot to avoid screeching feed back! By 8:00 a.m. the girls arrived in a little line coming from the orphanage. They were all dressed up in their “church clothes”, socks trimmed with lace and hair bows and barrettes galore. The youngest 13 took their place in little chairs on the front rows. Others from the neighborhood arrived – ties worn by men and ladies in proper dresses. There ended up being over 100 people all together. The Sunday School portion begins at 8:00 a.m. and we joined them for church at 10:00 and it lasted until noon. So – these little ones sit there for 4 hours! I can’t imagine. I couldn’t stand church for ONE hour as a child. Many of us in America keep tabs on the length of the service and fear it will go into “overtime” after 45 min. or an hour. About 10 of Marie’s girls sang. They told Marie they wanted to sing to Joan, Jeneane and me to thank us for all we have done for them. Of course I cried to hear their beautiful voices and see their wonderful spirits unite. Debby from Hope House joined us at the worship service and we got to spend some time with her after church. She shared stories of her experiences since the quake and I hung on to every word. She is an amazing woman with a heart for others. She is an explorer and is in tune with what is happening in the country.
After our chat she graciously drove us to the “artisan community” which is about 80 make shift buildings, usually one room that houses the metal art work of the people who work and live there. SO –we even had a couple hours of SHOPPING! It was so amazing to see the labors of these artists. They are so proud to display what they have made from tin. We watched them “creating” as well as they take a nail or sharp instrument and pound a pattern onto the metal and cut away pieces and create more patterns than I could describe! They expect you to barter over the price, which is SO hard for me. I feel like for every dollar I expect them to give up – they could have bought food. Debby assured me that they would be offended if we DIDN’T! Can you imagine if that was the practice in the States? I made Debby do the talking for me – and then she would nod if she thought their new price sounded fair and I would agree to complete the transaction. So between the four of us, we felt we did our fair share to help the economy of Haiti. Someone has to do it – right? (I can see Jim rolling his eyes to that comment all the way over here!)
The weather had been totally unexpected to the Haitians as it was cloudy and actually chilly for two days and nights. I could tell they were talking about it at church. By yesterday afternoon the sun did come out which actually felt good. Jeneane had the treasure of a pair of socks and a fleece jacket to wear to bed and I found a comforter in a box and was thrilled to be nestled under it at night. VERY strange for Haiti.
The late afternoon was spent playing with the girls. They rush into Jeneane and Joan’s arms now and call them by name and it’s so heartwarming. I remain amazed at these two women. They have been such a blessing to be with and are truly “missionaries”. They jump in with both feet and have adapted and been a beautiful example to the girls as we bring them love and hope. As night approached it was time for church again. Another two hours was spent worshipping at the make shift church. We played with the youngest 13 at Marie’s house. Glow in the dark bracelets were a hit and they created earrings and necklaces out of them and wanted a picture of themselves with every new invention. It was a bit crazy and exhausting for this old lady to keep up with the craziness…but having their smiles, hugs and dancing around kept me going.
We were all pretty much semi-comatose by our late dinner at 8:30 – and went to bed. I had a several mosquitoes visit in the night and their buzzing by in my ear was so frustrating. I spent the majority of the night with a sheet over my head and itching. I have no idea of the time, it was still dark, but a group gathered at the make shift church and began singing. They worshipped for about an hour or so. We talked about it this morning that we practically went to bed with singing and woke to singing. This morning Joan said she was ready to grab her flashlight and walk over and tell them that they were totally confused and that YESTERDAY was Sunday. We are so aware of their faithfulness!
I am not sure if I mentioned and not taking the time to read back through blogs, but with donations Marie had a man install lights for the girls in their make shift rooms so they can have some degree of lights. The electricity comes and goes from the government – and usually not when you need it.
None of us can believe this is our last full day. We have a list of things that we want to be sure to get accomplished with the girls. There are always so many things you want to do – but getting it organized and actually accomplished is another.
Marie has been up and rolling since early morning. She comes and goes between her house and the orphanage and is always on some mission with activity surrounding her. I still have absolutely NO idea how she does what she does. At 73 years old the woman truly has more energy than I ever remember having. She told us that there are so many men out of work with hungry families that she is going to put them to work. So – she bought two wheelbarrows and she is going to have them continue to carry away the rubble and clean up the area at the orphanage. She has been waiting for several days for a dump truck to come, but having the men work will give them pride and purpose. One day Jeneane and I were moving some sledge hammers out of the way and had to lift them with TWO hands just to move them, so to think these guys swing them over their head over and over again for 12 hours – is truly incomprehensible to me!
I’m happy to say I HAVE seen progress this week at Grace House of Hope and I hope with the Pastor receiving additional money through generous donators to Impact For Jesus, he, too, will be buying needed items that we all take for granted to improve their living conditions. I spoke a few sentences at church yesterday and assured the congregation that they have not been forgotten. Prayers continue of their behalf and that in a few months we will be worshiping in the NEW church….but to our same loving God who never changes nor leaves us.
I have so much in my heart to share – but will close for now. As a bit of a disclaimer, please forgive all misspelled words and poor grammar. I type this as quickly as possible with fear that the screen will go black and I will lose the entry. That is what happened on what I wrote the last time and when I finally found it somewhere in the “blog world” – I hurried and hit “post” before I lost it again. I can hear you techno. Geniuses out there laughing…
Time to get busy – this time tomorrow I will be heading to the airport so won’t have the chance to write. Please pray for our safety in returning home. Again may I thank all for being a part of our “caring hearts ministry” as together we continue to change innocent lives.