A week of seeing old friends and meeting new!

Wow, what a week of incredible reunions and amazing experiences God has put together.  The week started out with a greeting by friends Miguel, Donna, Wes and Joe. It was so great to see them all again.  It felt like "old home week" at the Haitian Queen.  Walking in the house felt just like coming home.  We got settled in and hit the sack.  You've already heard about church on Sunday and our first days of work at OLTCH putting up the new house for Jasmine and Greg, but for me it wasn't as much building the house as it was spending time with not only the kids but with the nannies, missionary staff and laundry ladies at the orphanage.  How would you like to do laundry for 54 kids, 20 of them in diapers...most cloth diapers?  Well, yesterday I had that opportunity and I walked up to help just as they were washing about 100 pairs of underpants and cloth diapers!  Hmmmm I thought...not such a great time to decide to help with the laundry BUT it turned out to be one of the more awesome moments of the week.  The women that do laundry at the orphanage do not know the Lord so I sat down, rinsed underwear as they washed them (they didn't think I washed them well enough), wrung them out and hung them up to dry.  These women spoke no English, however I spent my time there smiling, praying and singing for them.  Rob brought his iPod over and we listened to Christian music from iTunes and the smile on this lady's face was unbelievable.  The other Haitian workers kept coming over to the laundry area and looking at the white lady helping with the laundry.  To me it was "another day at the office". To them...it was a white lady that sat with them and cared about what they did.  I had prayed all week about how I could spend time with the Haitian workers and God answered in a huge way!

Last night we had a Creole lesson by our friend, Mesye Maxo.  He runs the school up the road from us in the village.  What an amazing guy he is and we have all grown to love him so much.  We met him last February and he has now even "friended me" on Facebook!



This morning we went to the New Horizon's orphanage.  We walked in the door and Madam Christian greeted us with a huge smile and a hug.  This orphanage had 12 kids last year and this year she has doubled in size with 24 kids!  I saw the little guy named Anderson that I fell in love with last year almost immediately but the person I was most happy to see is a little girl that our team mate, Paul fell in love with last year.  I was so happy to see her.  I took several pictures of her for Paul and gave her a huge hug for him too!  Madam Christian is pregnant this year and her feet and legs are very swollen.  Donna Tente and I were able to give her a leg/foot massage and I had the privilege of walking her to her bed and praying with her as she nodded off for a nap.  As she was nodding off, all the children started to sing "Jesus Loves Me this I know, cause the Bible tells me so" and she was smiling from ear to ear.  I watched as Jesus took Madam into His arms and comforted her tired body and she was able to relax.  The rest of our time there was spent coloring pictures and singing songs with the kids.  It was a true blessing to be able to see Madam and her children again and spend time just feeding into this woman who has given up her life to serve the children of Haiti.

As I reflect on our week I see a team full of servants.  Donna, who cared for a Haitian mom and her baby on Tuesday and fed a house full of people for lunch.  Katie, who has worked so hard on the construction of the house and then can sit down the kids and laugh, play or color quietly.  Danielle, who has surprised herself by patiently turning a jump rope while 5 little girls tried jumping at the same time or making lion puppets with the little boys.  Shari who has worked on the contraction also but has thoroughly enjoyed each moment playing games or reading to the many little boys at OLTCH.  Rob who has spent many, many hours building and today literally on a hot tin roof for 5 hours and then sat quietly with Felo and colored with him and called that the highlight of his day. And Jennifer who works hard on the construction and then can stand up in front of a group of kids and lead songs with actions for over an hour!  I have seen the hands and feet of Jesus each and every day and I am so grateful for each and every person that God has put on this team and the other people we have worked with all week.

Tomorrow is our last full day in Haiti.  We are tired but not really wanting to leave.  We have done so much yet haven't even made a dent in the need.   The need for a Savior...   God WILL move mountains in this country, One person at a time!

Jackie