Living Waters ... continued

The last three nights, the glorious sound of rain has been heard throughout Port au Prince...  nourishing the land and nurturing the soul.  But as I lay in my warm bed listening to the beautiful beat of the drops thundering on the roof that was keeping me dry, I thought only of the people in the tent cities.

Yesterday morning we delivered food and bathroom supplies to one of the nearby tent cities.  This particular one was situated on slight slope.  We started at the top, and as we wound our way through the elaborate maze these people call home we found ourselves trudging through feces and urine infested mud and water flowing amongst the garbage.  There were "lakes" and "rivers" that had formed quite literally at these people's front doors.  Not exactly what we would call water front property.  As I watched the children playing in and running through the water, I was reminded of the opposite effect water can have... the destruction and devastation.  The water had washed away part of their property and with it most likey carried bacteria and disease.  I now understand how cholera has spread so violently here in Haiti.

I now also understand why the delivery of clean water is so important.  Water is a very powerful source in our world.  It sustains life but can also, in the blink of an eye, take it away.  Praise God for for the vision of Jeff and Alyn to bring life-giving, life-sustaining, living water to the beautiful people here in Haiti.  The people don't have much, but they know and trust in God, and their spirit is far greater than most in the north.  I can only pray to someday have that much faith, trust, and dependance on our Lord.

I will return to this beautiful country and do my part to lay God's healing hand upon these people.  What will you do?

Ke Bondye Beni'ou
God Bless You

It's our last day!

What an amzing week! Yesterday we went on two water stops and then spent two 1/2 hours at Mother Teresa's. The water truck stops had a completely different feel this time. As the team stepped off of the Taptap they were confident and excited, they had jobs and they knew what they were. Our first stop was #21 which is filled with children. We were swarmed with them as they looked for love, touch and their photos taken (they don't get to see themselves so its a real treat to show them their photos on the back of the camera). Jeff's wife Karen had come down in November and had her picture taken with Cece, a little girl that she had fallen in love with. Jeff had carried that picture around to each water truck stop to find her and show her the photo, he finally found her at 21. They were all amazed that he had a picture of their Cece. Just a simple photo that we take for granted and they couldn't get enough. It was a great way to end our water truck mission

After a short break we returned to Mother Teresa's. Gina had spent a lot of time on Wednesday holding a little girl named Michalove. She's a one year old little girl that is so malnurished she weighs only 6lbs, and that's after having been at Mother Teresa's for over a month and a half. Gina held her and was able to feed her an entire cup of formula. She was more alert and more active than she had been on Wednesday. I went to the littel girl I held all day on Wendesday, Angelika. She had an iv in her arm and her hands were wrapped in cloth to keep her from tearing out her iv. Wednesday she wouldn't look at me, but she would lean her head and be still. Jeff was holding her yesterday and she smiled at me! How amazing to see prayers and hard work helping to heal those little children.

Our last event of the day was to have our water truck "boys" come over. They are 5 of the most wonderful men that watch over us on our water truck. They were so incredible grateful for a meal of spaghetti and french bread. They each told us their story of how they came to work for Healing Haiti. How awesome our God is, he is able to meet all of our needs when we let him be in control!
This day was our full circle day.

The Blessing of the Gifts

We had the honor of presenting goats to 3 widowed Hatian women yesterday, one of the women had an injured leg from the earthquake.  The team had been looking forward to being able to bless someone with the gift of a goat.  In Haiti goats are valuable for their milk and reproduction.  In the Hatian culture, expressing thanks for a gift is not as expressive, as we are in the US.  They will quietly say "merci" (thank you).  God had a surprise for the team - after presenting the goats, team members were brought to tears as the women came to each team member and gave them a hug and a kiss expressing their thanks for this gift of a goat. We who had come to show Jesus' love to these women were the ones blessed by the outward expression of their thankfulness, that God had answered their prayers.
~~ Lisa

Whose Joy?

This is Gina.  Eleven-year old Isaac stole my heart today.  It all began during one of our stops at Guiliame's Orphanage in Cite Soleil.  We were greeted by many curious and smiling children when we walked into the well-shaded courtyard. We were there to play games with them and provide a fun experience for the children.  Everyone enjoyed games of pin the tail on the donkey, blowing bubbles, batting balloons, bean bag toss, and throwing balls.  Christi,  Lisa and I blindfolded the children and steered them toward the wall with the chalk-drawn tailless donkeys.  The boys in my line were amazing at this game and their accuracy of pinning the tail in just the right place was mind-boggling!  It took me only 2 boys to realize they were coaching one another in French Creole, to go up, right, more right, down a little.  Yes!  After an hour or so of games, we sat down for some quiet time of coloring and drawing pictures.  I felt a hand slip into mine and I looked down at big brown eyes. Isaac Thomas and I sat down to draw.  He spelled his name for me and I spelled mine.  Then he motioned for me to draw.  As Isaac sat quietly, I drew his portrait and captured his beautiful face.  He just beamed!  I was there to bring happiness and fun to his day, but the happiness and joy that he brought to my day far surpassed what I did for Isaac.

No Cheating!

Isaac Thomas

Before we left the children sang and we all joined in clapping.   Their beautiful voices sang praises to Jesus.      Thank you, dear children, for showing the love and joy of God!

See our beanie babies!

Sweetly Broken

Ednure Louis.  You don't know him, but God does.  And he had a plan to use that little two year old boy to change my life forever.  As we entered Mother Theresa's orphanage, the sounds of children and crying babies echoed through the open corridor.  Sick and dying  babies.  Children who've been left by their parents because they cannot care for them on their own. 


We entered the downstairs area where the sick babies are.  It was like taking a step back in time.  A dark room with concrete walls filled with rows upon rows of small iron cribs.  IV's hanging from anywhere they could find a spot.  Sisters in the traditional habits.  And more sick babies than I had ever seen at one time.  This is where I thought I would spend much of my time that morning, but God had a different plan. 


I immediately passed through that room just to see what the upstairs looked like.  The rooms where the non-sick older children stayed.  And there he was.  Ednure Louis.  Sitting on the cold concrete floor.  He instinctively reached up as I crouched down to pick him up.  He sat contently as I held him.  I offered him to Lisa, but he didn't want to go, and before I knew it he was sleeping soundly on my shoulder.  I swayed back and forth trying to offer a little comfort, and before I knew what was happening the tears were streaming down my cheeks.  God's living waters were pouring out of me wishing I could do more than just hold these children for a few short hours.  I was being emptied of me so that I could be refreshed again with God's Holy Spirit. 


Many times I thought of putting Ednure Louis in a crib to tend to another crying child, but something inside me told me to hang on... to hang on tight.  And so I did.  And as I prayed over Ednure Louis gently breathing in and out on my shoulder, wondering whose child I was caring for and why he was there, a peace began to fill my heart.  We sat on the bench, gently swaying, breathing in, breathing out.  And like the day before, I found myself in a bubble of peace amongst all the chaos.  God was using this little boy to remind me that He is in control and will be my only source of peace and strength. 


As Ednure Louis and I sat quietly, visiting hours for parents ended.  A young gentleman who had come to visit his child moved my legs off the bench and set his tiny child down in front of me....  "please take care of and love on my child while I'm gone" were his unspoken words.  I can only imagine the heartache of a parent leaving their child behind every day knowing they can't care for them.  And so I sat there with Ednure Louis on my left shoulder and this little girl on my right shoulder.  We sat there sharing this very moment that God had prepared, predestined, for the three of us, and I was humbled.


I cared for children of all kinds this day... sick and dying babies, mentally handicapped children, and children whose parents simply cannot care for them on their own.  I held a 7 month old baby who could not have weighed more than 5 pounds and could not hold her head up because she was too weak.  Her crying ceased, and she fell asleep in my arms.  I played with and prayed over a 1 year old little girl whose wrist was no larger than a grown man's thumb, but whose spirit was larger than my entire team combined.  Despite her circumstances, the Holy Spirit shined brightly through this little girl's eyes.   I loved on a two year old girl whose hair was gray from malnourishment.  She clung to me and tears streamed down her tiny little cheeks when I put her back in the crib... time to go... she was losing that ever so powerful human touch... that sense of love that God pours through us into those children and my heart ached once more.


I had gone to serve those children, but in the end, God used them to serve me.  I walked out of Mother Theresa's that day having had my heart split wide open but immediately mended back together, stronger than ever before.  I walked out of there with the image of those children, God's little angels, imprinted on my heart.  God held my hand as I walked out the door... sweetly broken.

Living Waters

Today we had the privilege of serving the people of Cite Soleil, delivering over 10,000 gallons of water... 5 gallons at a time.  The sights of garbage, shanties, bright colors of clothing and fruit in the market, and unclothed children... the smells of delicious foods intermingled with burning garbage and sewage... the feeling of dust in our eyes... the sounds of idle chatter and children laughing... all consumed us simultaneously as we pulled in.  The horn on the water truck beeped letting everyone know we were there, and people came in droves.  Men, women, and children... all carrying their precious buckets.  Those buckets were like gold as this would be the only clean water they might get in days.

Bucket Line From Atop the Water Truck

  

As the adults and older children lined up behind the truck, the younger children surrounded us, automatically reaching up to hold our hands, looking up at us with their big brown eyes, and smiling at each of us when we smiled down at them.  It's amazing how a simple "Bon Jour" can conjure up the biggest smile in children and adults alike.  How powerful a simple touch can be.  I spent twenty minutes sitting and gently tickling a small child.  Imagine a child, in the midst of that chaos, sitting still for twenty minutes.  God was using me to deliver His love to that young child without a spoken word.

We served three different areas, each unique in their own way, but with the same loving and compassionate people.  God had a plan for each of us today.  Jeff experience a moment of sorrow as he watched a child walk away with an empty bucket when the water ran out.  Sue experienced joy as she interacted with the happy children.  Lisa experienced love as she watched the rest of us display Jesus' love all day long.  Gina and Allison experienced their gifts of giving as they played with all those children with the dark hair and big brown eyes.  And I, at one of the stops, as I held that hose filling the water buckets through all 3,500 gallons, experienced Jesus.  I literally felt his presence flowing through that hose... his living waters flowing into those buckets... into the lives of those Haitian people.  And I was reminded of the story of the Samaritan women from John 4.  Jesus says, 

“If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.  Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

I pray that throughout the rest of this week, and the rest of our lives, God's living water continue to flow through each and every one of us and through the lives of all the people we have the honor of serving.