Children's Lifeline

     Today was an exhausting but rewarding day! We started the morning with a  devotion at 7a.m. and then headed to Port Au Prince to visit four orphanages. The bus ride lasted about an hour and a half. When we arrived at the first orphanage we got off of the bus to see several little children's faces beaming up at us. I love that feeling! I have never been around more people that are geuinely happy to see you, what an awesome experience! Most of the people I see seem to have such sweet and gentle spirits, which inspires to be more like them in that way.
     We started out with a puppet show for the kids, telling the story of Zaccheus.We all had a great time with the show and the kids responded well. Their little giggles made my heart smile. I was also so impressed with well they listened! They knew the answer to every question that we asked about the story. After the puppet show we listened to the children sing "Yes, Jesus Loves Me". Their voices sounded so soft and beautiful. I could listen to them sing forever! When they finished singing we handed out sun glasses to all of them. They took the sun glasses with huge smiles on their faces and immediately pushed them on to their face looking at us for confirmation that they looked "cool". At that point, a simple thumbs up sent them into laughter. What a sweet sound!
     We left the orphange and headed to another. We visited two more orphanges in Port Au Prince after that. Visiting that many orphanges made it a very busy day that seems to be a blur now but there are faces in my heart that I know I will never forget. We left the last orphanage and attempted to go to down town Port Au Prince. The traffic  was so backed up we didn't make it. However, we passed through a lot of Port Au Prince on the way and drove by a tent city. Seeing the  tons of tents lined up so close together and crowded broke my heart. I've never seen anything like it and will never forget that sight. Being unable to reach down town Port Au Prince, we headed back to the Mission.
     We returned at about 4:30 p.m. We all rested a little bit and were able to watch the Hatian women cook dinner. What a neat experience! I carefully watched them make the homemade bread that we stuff ourselves with every night. They very politely let us watch and even help! All of the food was absolutely delicious, I will miss it when I'm gone!

     After dinner some of us went outside to watch the kids from the village play soccer. What athletes they are! It's so much fun to watch them play so freely.
     I am extra tired tonight due to the long and bumpy bus ride to Port Au Prince. As I said, it has been an exhausting day, but I'll lay in bed tonight and let all of the sweet faces I saw today dance through my head. That makes it all worth while! Now I am headed to bed, I can't wait for tomorrow!

Careece Glass
First Baptist Church Metropolis
Metropolis, IL