Touched by an Angel in Haiti

Today was my very favorite day of the trip. The morning started out with a trip to a Haitian church service. The service takes place in a large open tent every single morning and goes for a couple of hours. It is called a sunrise service, because it starts at 5:00 am and as we are all singing praises the sun rises over the mountain in front of us. It is gorgeous!!! The Haitians stand and walk during the whole service with arms outstretched, calling out affirmations and praying out loud. The music was the same music you would hear on KTIS, only in Creole. It was a very magical moment and you could feel the Holy Spirit moving through the tent. There was also a very special moment when a little girl, around 7 yearls old, came running out of no where to reach for one of my teammates. His name is Thomas, and he is this 6 foot something muscular police sheriff. She wrapped her arms right around his knees as if she knew him, and he just lifted her right up and she snuggled in and laid her head on his shoulder for the rest of the service. It was very special and a memory that I will have forever. My teammates on this trip are unbelievable. Very few knew each other prior to this trip. The majority are from Minnesota, one is from Atlanta, Georgia and another teammate from San Franciscio, California. Every single one of them have dug in and served God in some amazing ways during this trip. Truth be told, I expected the women to be compassionate and nurturing to these babes, but the men have blown me away with their gentle touches and their love for these babies. I am blessed to be a part of this team. Today we split the teams up and went to St. Gertrudes orphanage for special needs kids and then to an orphanage for sick and dying babies. The latter was my favorite part of the day. The orphanage is run by some amazing nuns who care night and day for these children. I saw 4 rooms full of about 20 babies per room in cribs. It was a sad sight to see. Our team changed diapers, fed babies, and held as many as we possibly could just so they could get out of their cribs. I could have spent an entire day there. It felt good to be needed and to be able to assist these precious babes. It felt so good to hold them and pray healing over them in the name of Jesus. I was a little less comfortable at the special needs orphanage just because I was at a loss for what to do with some of the more handicap kids, but fortunately this is where some of my other teammates shined. Michael did a great job showing love to some children with cerebral palsy and Syam took on one of the more challenging kids who, when untied from the wheelchair, took off like a rocket and never stopped. Syam even endured some scratches in an effort to contain him and ply him off of the top of a truck. This orphanage is where I fell in love with one particular baby. She totally touched my heart and I would have given anything to have been able to bring her back home with me. This baby was the smiliest baby I have ever met in my entire life. She had a smile on her face every time you glanced her way. She was just a big ball of sunshine. ahhhh, very emotional day, but a very wonderful day. Haiti is growing on me every day, even the bumpy roads are starting to feel nice. :)