Children's Lifeline

Today was our second day here in Haiti for Children's Lifeline.  Our day started out at prayer rock with a devotion by David speaking about obeying God's authority with the verses found in John 10:27-31.  Shortly after that, Spring took us on a tour through La Digue, the local village.  We walked around the village with local children flocking to us almost immediately.  The first thing that stole me was the lack of shoes that these children had.  For those unfamiliar, the terrain here is mountainous and not extremely conducive for bare feet.  Many children, in fact, asked for the shoes on my feet.  We walked around and looked at the dam where many children went for a swim in the water.  After that we were taken to look at one of the houses that was recently built.

After lunch we went to two orphanages with Mark, Richard, and Sylvio as our translators.  At the first orphanage we provided a bible school for the children including singing led by Hilary and Julie, a lesson by Josh over John 3:16, crafts, and activities.  The children sang for us in their native language, which was one of the highlights of the day for me.  At the second orphanage, we did another bible school with them.  Before we left the second orphanage we passed out 17 love bundles to the children.  This was the second highlight of my day. 

The children were in pure joy over what little they received from us today.  It made me question my life and what I am used to having on daily basis; sounds kind of cliché but this is my first, in person, experience with extreme poverty.  This first day could be summed up into one word: surreal.  I’ve heard stories, of course, about what it was like here, and also saw pictures from previous trips, but seeing it in person is completely different.  At prayer rock this morning we were asked to share what impacted us the most.  The thing that impacted me the most was the normalcy of this country compared to where I come from.  We come from spoiled, energy wasting America, and the norm down here is shacks and tents.  I’m praying for God to use our group to do whatever it is that He has intended for us to do down here for the next several days, and that the kids and Haitians that we come into contact with each day have open hearts to hear what God wants us to say.

-Reagan Summers from Illinois