The Meaning of Connect

No matter what book I pick up, read, or hear right now always has to do with relationships.  The truth of the matter is that all of our lives are run on the basis of relationships.  We all desire them.  We all need them.  But relationship seem to be there very thing that we are not any good at keeping.  We struggle to find the right balance of how much to give away and how much to hold close to the chest.  Should I be my real self or just play a role that everyone wants me to play.  The truth is relationships are not that hard to have if you are willing to be honest and trust worthy. 

On the agenda for today was swimming with the girls from the house of hope.  You should have seen us walking 3 block hike to the hotel where we were going to swim for the day.  There was about 25 of us and everyone wanted to know what we were all doing walking down the back streets of Haiti.  When we got to the pool all the girls jumped right in and team was close behind.  This is a treat for the girls and not something that they do often or together.  It was a blast for everyone.

The most important thing I noticed was the difference in the girls and the team when we got back to the orphanage.  You would have thought that we had know each other forever.  The girls were wanting  me to color and jump rope with them.  They wanted to help us as we were cleaning up and taking out the trash.  (You have to remember some of them are less than 5 years old and were abused or abandoned.  This is a big deal.)  The truth is they want relationships too.  Someone they can trust and look up to.  Someone that will hold them when they hurt themselves and need a hand.  

At dinner one of the workers came and got Paul and Kate and said that one of the girls had fallen and then they called for Mittie, the nurse!  This wasn't sounding good.  So we postponed dinner to find that one of the girls had rolled out of bed and hit her head and was bleeding like crazy.  After Mittie got her cleaned up we realized it was just a scrape with a lot of blood.  But you would have thought that Mittie and that little girl spoke the same language as she comforted her and told her she was going to be alright.  It was a beautiful sight to say the least.  

When you understand that God is a relational god, it helps to understand the need we all have for strong relationships.  Open up to someone today and let that relationship go a little deeper and you will see the joys of sharing life with others.

Service for the Servants

Last night we set a call time for breakfast at 7:30 am.  If you've been on a missions trip with me before you know that we are not going to be sleeping around all day.  You can do that on your vacation.  Mission work is different, you are usually going to help someone with the mission that God has placed on his or her heart.  It is important to them.  It matters.  As I was rounding everyone up about 7:45, Charlie began making pancakes, the problem was we didn't get the kind that you just add water.  We had the kind that required milk (which we didn't have) and eggs (which we didn't have).  So, we found some powdered milk and just went without the eggs and believe it or not, I couldn't even taste the difference.  They were good or I was just that hungry, but either way, we worked it out. 

Then it was time to bless the orphanage with some good old fashioned hard work.  We took on the project of painting the kitchen for the orphanage.  And the team did great.  We had it knocked out before lunch and was able to play with the girls and watch them paint rocks in the afternoon.  Some had talent and some had paint all over them but all had a good time. 

I had the opportunity to go to the store today to buy some new mops for the orphanage and the traffic was crazy.  No order only means one thing: Chaos!! As I was driving with Paul, the American that runs the orphanage, he was sharing with me how excited he was for the devotion times because he could tell that our team was hear for others and not for ourselves.  I don't believe I could have received a better compliment about our team.

After practicing our skit for Monday's VBS we got ready or dinner and watch the girls play hide and go seek in the court yard.  I was blessed to know that these girls get to experience some of the pleasures of childhood that most other Haitian girls don't get to enjoy.

My First Trip to Haiti

As I went to bed last night at 12:00 am. I knew it was going to be a rough day having to get back up at 4:15 am.  When I got to the Church a little after 5:00 the team was there and ready waiting in the limo that would take us to the airport.  I'm still not quite sure how that happened but off we go.  Riding in stile and trying to stay awake. I did however, have everyone hold up their passport so I could see it before we left.  We got to the airport with not much said (the girls were sleeping) and we headed off to our gate.

It's amazing to me that we, as americans, can get on a plane and travel around the world the way we do.  This though lead me on a mental journey for the rest of the day.  Scriptures were coming to my mind about the great commission and our ability to actually fulfill it, and to who much is given much is required.  The end of that thought provoking journey was this: when we leave Haiti will be have left a tangible gospel or just felt good about the fact that we were willing to go.  

As we got to Haiti is was the same scene that have seen many times, people begging to help you with your bags for a small tip, crazy traffic, bumpy streets with no order, riding in the back of a compact truck with all the luggage.  The complex was not quite what I expected.  I was expecting an american oasis in the middle of Haiti but not so.  It is very much under construction and the girls and one litttle boy are the gems of it all.

We had dinner and sat on the roof top sharing our first impressions of the place and God was in our midst.  it was a blessing to see how God works all over the world.