Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Day 2: Church, Children and Shopping

Greetings from Port-au-Prince! Day 2 was just as amazing here in Haiti. We started our morning out a bit differently: we woke up at 5:30 am to go to a Haitian church service. It was quite different than the church services we were all used to but was very awesome to experience. Haitians tend to be much more physical in their worship styles, they never stopped walking and just moving throughout the hour we were there. It was very cool to watch.

After church, we came back and enjoyed yet another delicious breakfast complete with fresh avocados. Then we loaded back into the "tap-tap" and headed to the Home for the Sick and Dying Babies. We spent the morning playing with, feeding, holding and loving on babies and young children. They were all so sweet and just wanted to be held. Some of these babies were too sick to leave the room and hooked up to IVs, and some were so malnourished and ill they were frail and tiny. While heartbreaking as it was, I think these kids filled us with joy and hope as we witnessed them smile, trust and love through their struggles.


After the Home for the Sick and Dying Babies, were went back to the guesthouse for some down time, then headed out to go shopping at the Apparent Project. The Apparent Project is a non-profit group that employs Haitian artisans to create and sell various jewelry and home decor pieces out of recycled materials. This group's mission is to empower Haitians to earn money to support their families. During our time there we were given a tour of their facilities where they have various workshops on site, and then did some shopping. Their items were very cool and it was a great bonus to be able to help this great organization and workers out. If you want to shop, donate or learn more about them visit www.apparentproject.org.


Our last stop of the day was visiting Gertrude's Orphanage where we got to spend some time playing with the disabled children. Our musician of the group, Jenna, brought a guitar along and sang them songs which they all loved. Some kids even tried a hand at playing themselves :) We also brought along bubbles and balloons which kept the kids occupied. It was cool to see them light up when they played and listened to music. By the time we left Gertrude's, needless to say, we were pretty exhausted from all the activities of the day and all the energetic children. Overall, God revealed Himself in the faces of the children. He was there in their hope, love and unconditional acceptance of us.



"And He said 'Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven'"-Matthew 18:3


God Bless,

Nash

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