One Last Post

Friends, this 10-minute video contains some favorite pictures and two snippets of the Haitian children singing to us. We feel like it captures our experience as best as we can for you. Enjoy! Easter in Haiti Video

We coordinated our trip with the KORE Foundation, which provides Haitians with sustainable solutions to poverty. Click here to learn more. 

"I Have Decided to Follow Jesus"

The children and Audaucin and Rosie's orphanage delighted us with this song. They are such beautiful children -- inside and out. I apologize for the raw footage but it will be weeks before I will get any fancy editing completed.

Merci, Saviour!

Our delight yesterday and today is sharing Easter traditions with the Haitians. We have introduced our tradition of Easter eggs to the children. But this morning, the Haitians shared with us their tradition of an Easter morning service. This dynamic and beautiful service was all in Creole, but the joy of the Resurrection transcended any language barriers.

But how do you tie the American tradition of Easter eggs with the Resurrection for Creole-speaking children who have never seen an Easter egg? That was our challenge as we decorated eggs with the Christianville children and then hid eggs for the children at Audancin and Rosie's orphanage. All the children are familiar with the Resurrection, but what do eggs have to do with the real meaning of Easter?

We have attempted to explain to the children that the egg is like the stone that covered Jesus' tomb; it is cold and hard. But inside, there is new life, just as Jesus came back to life. And why do we hunt the eggs? Because if we seek Jesus, we will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13).

It is easy to find Jesus here. The children we met know Him well, and the church-goers with whom we worshipped sang His praises mightily.

Long ago for a reason I don't remember, I jotted down Isaiah 46:3-4 on a piece of paper. Today, my church buddy Shelanda found it and was fascinated by my cursive writing. She wanted to know what it meant, so I showed her where the verse was in my Bible. On this Easter Day, I found a message written for me long ago, "I will sustain you and I will rescue you." Alleluia! Merci, Saviour!

Berlin

On Friday, we had the pleasure of meeting Berlin, her brother Billy and their mother. Native Haitians, Berlin and Billy are college educated; Berlin, a trained nurse and a journalist, and Billy, a former linebacker and fullback for the Texas Longhorns had emigrated to the U.S. Berlin, though, was traveling Haiti as a journalist when she noticed orphaned children wandering the streets alone. She began taking them in and now runs an orphanage not far from Christianville.

All 32 children sleep in one tent, but they are near a water source and are fed, schooled and loved. We took a trunk of goodies to them, and the Frisbees and soccer balls were instant hits. So was my camera. The younger children were shy at first, but when I showed them their images on the screen, they were delighted and posed readily. One little guy pushed enough buttons that I think he could have shown me how to use the finer features of my own camera had my French been better.

We were touched by the sweetness of these children and greatly moved by the sacrifices Berlin, Billy and their mother have made to care for them. Berlin has made a decision that the children will not be adopted; they will live together as a family. She will care for them until they reach 18, and she will ensure that they are educated and receive vocational training so that they have job prospects as adults.

The children sang for us, and when I return home, I will share that video. For now though, photos must suffice.

New Friends

Behind our guesthouse is a tiny house that serves as the Christianville orphanage. Here, Miss Sue cares for about 20 children. If it is clear they will not return to their Haitian family, she arranges for new homes for them in the United States. She home schools the older children and teaches them English to ease the transition, and with her staff, she nurses to health younger children who have failed to thrive or were malnourished prior to their arrival.

It is these children who have become our fast friends, and our kids have found they are alike in that they all love to run and play, they love soccer, and they quickly can master an iPhone. These children came quickly to us, the younger ones wanting to be held and all relishing new playmates. Our kids have been touched by their friendliness and take every opportunity to visit them.

Beach Outing

Our hosts, Ingram, Tricia and Dale, shared their desire for us to see another side of Haiti, and in addition to its beautiful people, the natural beauty here is spectacular with its mountains, lush vegetation and a crystal blue coastline.

So today, they treated us to a beach outing. The kids delighted in the cool water, the treasures they found along the beach and the odd assortment of animals - a litter of pigs, a chicken and her chick as well as a litter of puppies.

The Kite

A we drove through Port-Au-Prince on our first day, we were stunned by what we saw. We came face to face with poverty as we had never seen it before. There were too many images, too many to recount, but perhaps the most heartbreaking was a skinny, barefooted boy who ran through traffic to our bus begging for money.

Almost everywhere we saw mounds of rubble, grim reminders of the earthquake that struck here three years ago. In many stretches of the road, we saw shantytowns with rows and rows and rows of tarps covering whatever the inhabitants could find to hold them overhead. Yet many times, above the ruins and the desperation, we could spy a tiny, tattered kite flying defiantly and proudly displaying the hope we thought we were bringing to Haiti. We quickly realized hope is already here.

As we've come to know the Haitian people, we have found they are very loving and very kind. They have faced more hardship than any of us could fathom, but their faith is strong and they have picked up the pieces and trudged onward. They are happy and friendly, generously offering waves and greetings in Creole. Their children build toys out of trash, and they make kites out of rags, running through the shantytown rows gleefully sending those symbols of hope aloft in the tropical breeze. They remind us that Haiti is worth saving.

No Words

I only have a few minutes to post, but I have no words to express what we have experienced today. We have arrived safely to Christianville, Haiti. But the drive through Port-Au-Prince was a humbling experience. At first, the kids were chatty about the new sights and sounds they were seeing, but when we came upon the first shantytown, we all became very quiet. The amount of rubble left from the earthquake three years ago is staggering, and the poverty is heartbreaking.

We hope to post pictures later.

Tomorrow's the Big Day!

It's hard to believe that we're leaving for Haiti tomorrow! This hasn't been real to me until like last week. It's always been "when the girls are older" or "next year" or "in the spring" but now we are so very close to it; a little more than three hours to be exact!

This entire idea has always made me a little uncomfortable. I'm thirteen, so I like Internet and an abundance of food (preferably candy) and long hot showers and lots of sleeping, all of which I will be deprived of on this trip. But that's what God calls us to do: to leave the comforts of our homes and go to the poor and broken and devastated and be a light unto them. So while actually going out and being a light isn't easy, it's what we're supposed to do.

So tomorrow, at six thirty in the morning, I will board a flight to a desolate place in need of hope, and I will try to make a difference, though I have been told that that place and those people will really make more of a difference in me than I will in them.

Please pray that our trip goes well and that our lives are changed!

--
Love always,
Lauren <3

Nervous? Yes!

When Lauren and I went to see The Hobbit over Christmas, I was struck by the scene in which Gandalf invites Bilbo Baggins to join him on an adventure. To paraphrase, he told Mr. Baggins that he could not promise that he would return nor that he would ever be the same. I had chills because I felt as though Christ were speaking to me. I am Mr. Baggins, safe in my Ponte Vedra world and comfortable with a circle of family and friends, a roof over my head and a pantry stocked with food. Follow me but I cannot promise you will ever be the same.

Gulp.

I am Mr. Baggins striking out for the first time on a mission trip.

After much discussion over many months, Randy and I decided that this opportunity would be a good one for us to experience together as a family. Christianville, Haiti, we have been told, is a relatively safe environment where orphans are housed and missionaries come to help the Haitian people. We want to share with our daughters a different perspective than what we have been taught in our own culture and to put into practice Luke 12:48: "Great gifts mean great responsibilities."

Am I nervous? Yes, I am. I pray for our safety, and I pray God will use us on this trip in the way He has deemed. But what does that mean? I sense we will never be the same.