Day one on my own!

Would like to share a couple things with all back home. New Life has had a couple teams in the last couple weeks put a new roof on the church, internally give it a new coat of paint and paint and rearrange the seating. The church looks fabulous and we had a great day of worship in it last Sunday. A local church brought twenty musicians over and a few voices to help us praise God. By the end of the second hymn all hands were raised in the air. The kids were in circles moving with the music and the Holy Spirit was present. Now that is how to worship our God! A woman staying at NL, Lulu Carter, also painted a new mural on one inside wall of the church. It is a picture of Jesus in a field of beautiful flowers with arms out stretched watching the children come to him. Jesus tender heart for his children is a beautiful representation of what goes on at New Life!
Today brought many first experiences for me on this trip, I am helping Miriam to run the guesthouse while Sarah is back in the States for the next three weeks, we got our first real rain storm since I have been here with one clamp of lightning that nearly knocked all of us off our dinner chairs and a trip to the Baptist Mission and Orphanage. Left about 10:00am to head to the Baptist Mission. Arrived in time for lunch and what a lunch it was! The cafe is an open area over looking beautiful, lust green gardens planted on the side of mountains for a far as the eye can see. Many different crops. We were they only ones in the restaurant and happened to notice an older gentleman with a walking cane come in. We start chatting and found out that he is one of the first missionaries who came to Haiti. He is an American who came to Haiti in 1946 with his wife. Many things struck me as he told of his adventures teaching the Haitians to farm crops on dirt and rock hillsides, start a church which has now grown to 46 locations and spreading the good news of the gospel to as many people as he could. He mentioned that in all his endeavors he never had any money to start ahead of time. He always knew God would provide. He also said that God does not want us to be a Santa Claus to the people of Haiti. He wants us to go out and spread the good news of the gospel. He had amazing stories to tell and we could have listened to him all afternoon but we had a stop to make at the Baptist Mission Orphanage. After going much higher in the mountain range and many twists, turns, washed out roads and boulders later we arrived at the orphanage. Upon arrival we immediately felt about a thirty degree temperature drop. Most kids had warm clothes on. Thirty-five kids live in a three room shanty looking house. Two filled with bunk beds and one with a table for eating and other activities. Two burners sat outside the house for cooking using propane. No electricity or running water. Two babies were sitting outside the front door in laundry baskets and clothes all around them to keep them upright. Flies were swarming each of these poor babies heads. It was a very sad sight. All of the kids farm to make money. New life buys vegetables from them each week. The kids also go to school for two hours each day. We spent sometime coloring, serving treats and just giving them God's love. When we left we got them all to line up and handed out Snickers Bars to each one. Oh, how exceed they were. The team, myself and Miriam prayed over the Pastor, his wife and all the children before we left. It was a very sad sight and once again left me thinking how thankful we are for all God has given us. It was a stark sad reality of life amongst God's beautiful natural resources. Afterward, Miriam took us even higher up to take a look at an empty parcel of land that looks down on this mountainous region. Another dream to build a retreat center for New Life some day!
The day finished off with a bumpy ride back down the mountain and a long ride back to NL. It was dark by the time we returned but a hearty dinner was waiting. It felt great to get back home. Thanks for all your prayers and support!

Renee