Day 4 of our trip and what a day!

Day 4 in Haiti with team PA and Delaware…at first I was an “outsider” to the team but  the group has welcomed me as one of their own.   By an outsider, I mean that I am from Illinois and the rest of the group is from the east coast.  However, I could not think of a better group of people to be in Haiti with and will forever be thankful for the opportunity I have been given by this group.  Lifeline is loosing a short term missionary tomorrow…she has been here for a month…Stacey, and after 4 days she has become a sister to me and feel that her absence will be hard to swallow. 


Among the activities of day 4, the team started off with gathering all the kids enrolled in kids club at Lifeline.  We told them that they were a treasure to Jesus and we handed out bookmarks with the pennies taped to them.  After the lesson, one row at a time every kid was given a pair of shoes collected by the team members prior to the trip.  Some smiles, some high fives, and some were just silent but thankful. 

As some team members stayed at Lifeline to distribute shoes to the kids, others went to one of the schools near by to complete child updates for kid sponsors. This consisted of taking pictures of each child and gathering stats to see how they have grown from the last update. During this time, inside the school there were sounds of children laughing, hands clapping and God’s Word being spoken. It’s amazing how the attention of 40+ Haitian children can be captured and held by the stories of Jesus Christ! After singing numerous songs, evangelizing, and connecting on a level never sought by many before, the team regrouped at Lifeline HQ. 

The team, all four missionaries, and Robenson went to Wahoo Bay, which is a beach / resort and was able to snorkel, watch an amazing sunset, and eat amazing food!  On our way back to Lifeline however…when in Haiti…just roll with it! Two miles from our arrival back at Lifeline; we pulled up on a wedding processional, which consisted of 15+ motorcycles, people dressed up in colorful outfits, and the newlyweds.   Horns were honking, people were lining the side of the streets to greet the new couple as they headed to the reception…simply amazing that we had a chance to see that tradition.   


The last event of the night was a group walk to the glowing cross.   The group was met by one of the local boys that had a cut and needed bandaged so he joined us as well. As the group sat at the cross and looked at the lights of Port-au-Prince, the stars, and glowing cross, a silence grew over us and the music from the wedding reception grew louder.  The nightly devotion was focused around Hebrews 11… faith and what it means / how it has affected us.   It was even cooler that Pastor Benis, a Haitian missionary, who was spending the night with us, sat in on our devotion, what a great chance for us yet again to encourage and be encouraged by our Haitian brothers and sisters.   Really…how awesome is God, putting them and us here on the same week and getting to sit down and talk about God with each other? Individuals shared stories of faith and each one of us would listen and respond with amazement. 


The ending to a long, eventful day came swift as we run to showers and to beds ready to wake up and just open our hearts to God and his will first thing in the morning.  I am so thankful that God wanted me to be here with this group at this time. Perhaps we will return to Haiti again (hopefully!), however words cannot describe how today’s events unrolled and what God wanted us to take from each encounter. Smelling of salt water and sweat, this Christian is headed for the shower and short sleep only to awake again tomorrow and tell others how great our God is and why!


Madison