Robby // Hand of God
Lydia // Feet
Skylar // Simplicity
Tyra // Tear
Annika // Smile
Michael // Loss
Sara // Peace
Megan // Relaxing
Soph // Joy
Gabrielle // Solomon
Chris // Singing
Sophia // Remembrance
Mitch // Language
Steph // Hospitality
Lea // Overflowing
Austin // Persistent
Grace // Jolicia
Dear friends & family,
Today our plans were not how we orginally expected them to be. We planned on going to the beach with some orphans. However, God had something else in mind. Today we went to visit some elderly, a mass grave from the 2010 earthquake, and Shalom Orphanage.
First we visted Marie, a 105 year old woman. She was not expecting any visitors but had prayed all morning because she was so lonely. Marie was surprised when we came with food, water and lotion. While massaging her arms and legs, we worshiped to one of her favorite songs, 10,000 Reasons, in both Creole and English. In addition she learned a new favorite song, What Joy, which brought her to tears. To our amazement, when we were serving her, she prayed for us. It's so encouraging to see her but others before herself. We left by praying for her health and well-being of her and her daughter. The next elder we visited was Pierre. Upon our arrival we were welcomed by him and his family (consiting of his wife and son). We washed his feet while singing and dancing with his one year old son. He asked us to pray for his family, especially his son and child on the way, and hopes that they will come to know God.
After our visit with the elders, we got the priviledge to visit the mass grave where people who lost their lives in the earthquake were buried. Valorie, one of our transladors, talked about the lose that everyone suffered, including himself. Even though the earthquake was a tragedy for the country, Valorie kept saying, "God is good, God is good." It was amazing to see that he recognized the good in such a bad situation and stil praised God for it. He left us with some inspiring words, "You never know when God is ready for you, so pray every day."
Lastly, we went to Shalom Orphanage. There are 10 children in this orphanage, ranging from ages three to sixteen. Amazingly, one lady runs the entire operation on her own. We got to do lots of different activities with the kids like: drawing with chalk, jumping rope, reading books, face painting, playing soccer, and having fun with parachute. Out of all of those activities the kids seemed to enjoy the parachute the most. We would lift the parachute up and down, trapping the kids underneath. It was hard to get them away from it, but a new activity awaited inside. Three of the older girls were running their own hair salon. Almost everyone on the team got their hair tightly braided, including Austin. Overall we had a great time with the kids and would love to do it all over again.
God bless,
Tyra & Gabrielle
