New people, New journey...really exciting!

  Wow. When I try to sum up my experience so far, that is the only word that comes to mind. This journey has been overall heart breaking and fulfilling.  God has been teaching my team and I how to truly rely on Him.  Looking back six months ago, I never thought this summer would come.  Now that we have been here for a week, I can honestly say that every trip has been different.  Even though I would love to say that I am spending my time with all the beautiful children that I have been working with the past year, I am having the awesome opportunity to minister to a completely different group of children.  The sad realization about working with seventy new kids is that the number of orphaned children in Haiti is continually growing.  Every day I think back to the last few words Bean told me before I left, "You cannot do it all."  In all honesty I just wanted to show him that I could.  God immediately showed me that the need was far too great, and the children did not need fixing.  They simply need to hear and see the truth of the gospel.

    The most exciting part of our journey is having Junior, my Haitian friend, stay with us at the guest house and help translate for us during our stay in Haiti.  Not only is Junior a tremendous blessing, but he also has been showing us the culture of Haiti that we have never heard or seen.  Last night our team was sitting on the balcony and talking about our relationship with our family members.  Not only was it strange to him that our family members were affected by our decision to spend our summer in Haiti, but he could not understand the strong relationships that we have with our siblings.  Junior began to explain that the people of Haiti do not have a concept of family.  For example, the mother's role to the children is to feed and discipline them.  Junior shared that many parents have never told their children that they love them, do not remember their birthdays, and have absolutely no idea what their children do outside of school.  Although this concept of families is foreign to many older Haitian people, educated young adults are slowly understanding the importance of building relationships with your family members. 

  This past week has been overwhelming with joy and exhaustion.  The children still have the same need for affection and attention.  I ended each day with a child asleep in my arms and two others wrapped around my legs.  I was reminded each day that our relationship with our Father should be the same way.  We should cling to Him at all times and come to Him for rest.  The team from Wade Baptist came this week, and our team was able to help the women at the orphanage prepare meals and wash the enormous mounds of clothes.  I sat down by an older women cooking dinner, and she handed me a large blade to peel carrots and cut leaves.  The entire time I was preparing the food I thought I was making a large dry salad.  At the end of the day, a small girl grabbed my hand and brought me to a big round pot which they used to make a delicious soup from the "salad" I had prepared.  At that moment, my entire perspective changed.  If we allow God to take control of every aspect of our lives, he can prepare us for something much greater that we could never do on our own.  In our bible studies, we have learned that in order to follow God fully, you must obey God blindly. God must be in control of our every thought, action, and desire.  Not because He deserves our obedience, but because He commands it.

  The adjustment has been a challenge, but every day we are reminded that our strength comes from the Lord.  Just to keep you guys laughing, I will share a few stories about our journey so far.  The second day at the orphanage I asked Junior to translate "freeze tag" for me.  After about the third time I ran up to some kids shouting out "freeze tag" in Creole, I asked Junior to translate "freeze tag" for me again.  He started laughing and told me he thought I said "free snacks".  Then I realized how crazy I looked running around tagging people and shouting "free snacks".  The fourth day at the orphanage the kids would continually ask Haley McMullan if she knew how to speak Creole.  All day she was curious why they would laugh after she told them that she spoke a little Creole.  When we were at the guest house, Junior informed her that she was saying "I fart".  Needless to say this week has been eye-opening and encouraging.  Stay in touch and keep up with our blogs.  I love you all!