Today we started with an early church service at 6 in the morning. (so people could go before work). You may think it is probably dull compared to ours in America but its not by far! They pace back and forth in the isles and dance around the room. Their worship is even extended outside. They keep garage like doors open and even pace out there. The service was very different from our norm. Its beautiful to see their love for God, even that early in the morning.
After the church service we headed out to an orphanage. As we pulled up to the doors you could here the children squealing with joy. They were all pressed against the gate waiting for the first person to start playing with them. The orphanage was beautiful. It was all white tile with light pouring through the windows and smiling faces everywhere. We made snowmen, maracas, and decorated cookies with the children. Then as we ran out of crafts we sang an danced around. Just simply playing patty cake or letting them sit on your lap made them happy. We gathered things up to leave saying “orevwa” (goodbye). It was sad leaving the kids knowing they don't have families like we do. I am just happy they have each other.
The orphanage we went to was close to the local museum so we thought since we didn't have anything else to do we’d make a stop. This was an interesting trip! We looked through the section that was in English and learned about the slavery, revolution, torture, and how they got to where they are now. After we finished looking around we were guided through the history of their land. It actually turns out the have an anchor from one of Christopher Columbus boats, the Santa Maria. I found that strange but it turned out Christopher's boat sank near by. There was also a crown from one of their rulers that was pure gold. I found it crazy that they still have it. Even though we were all tired it was a great experience learned the history of where we are ministering to.
We finished our day with a Christmas party with the neighbor boys. “How many people can you fit in a top top?” “Just one more.” We had 19 boys ride with us to the soccer fields across town. It sure did get packed in there. We original had 16 just from our group alone. Thats 35 people in one van sized vehicle. When we arrived at the field we found we had to share it with the cows. It was nice to get to know the local boys and playing soccer with the pros they are. We made ‘snow’ for them, as no one has ever seen it in Haiti, we also had the opportunity to decorate cookies with frosting and mini m&ms. On the way back to the guesthouse we all joined in singing songs at the top of our lungs. Their smiles alone could make your day. We finished that the day off with a group picture of the 35 of us. Blessed to be in Haiti!
- Kiana S, Jaden & Tommy Y
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