Grace Village!!!!

Kari Bristol here! I have been waiting for this day for almost a year. I have seen others pictures and the video of the opening but like I learned last time I was in Haiti you just can't describe this place with pictures and videos.

The smells, the smiles, the Bon jou's, the arms of the kids wrapped around you. You can't get that from a picture or a video.

Grace Village was amazing. Because it is Cavnival here in Haiti the children did not have school this week from Monday-Wednesday. Gretchen who is the American caretaker there for the next 3 months asked if we could come out today instead of on Friday. So we switched some plans and headed up to hang out with them all day.

On the ride up we had a chance to stop and dip our feet in the ocean. With a veiw of the crystal blue ocean and a wonderful breeze we enjoyed a few snacks.

When we arrived the children welcomed us with an amazing welcome song that sounded like there were 100 children singing instead of just 42. Then we went outside to play with them on the amazing playground.

After playing for a while we did a faith story about Adam and Eve and then a science lesson on weather. I brought with a contraption that you screw onto two 2 liter bottles to simulate a tornado. We told them about tornados and showed them some pictures.

Then we had the kids simulate a thuderstorm with them by having each group make different sounds. They kept saying "One more time"! :)

We each made our special friends and mine was Jeovoni. I met her on my first trip last March but only spent about 5 minutes playing with her because our team played music for the entire time we spend at the orphanage she was living at. I think she may have actually remembered me because she clung to me the entire 5 glorious hours we spent at Grace Village.

A few of the girls took us to see their rooms and they were so very proud to show us where they slept. Then Tracy, Melissa, Mary, and I had the privilage of having some of the girls do our hair.

Tracy and I agreed that it was so peaceful looking out at the ocean while the girls sang worship songs and combed and braided our hair.

Praise God for these amazing children who just want to be with you. I pray that they felt loved and cared for today.