See the cage around us?
We soon pulled up to our morning destination, the tent-camp of Petion-Ville. Otherwise known as Sean Penn's "Hollywood" camp. This tent community was shortly established right after the earthquake on a golf course. We were going to visit Pastor Cyr's church within the middle of the camp. Let's just say, you heard it before you saw it! Do to the pastors love for sound equipment, he had HUGE speakers blaring out the message for the day, which was given by Dr. Dada. As we traveled into the camp, the roads were so muddy that we had to take two trips with Dan's smaller truck. The tents we're a colorful mixture of gifts sent from America, Korea, and Brazil. They were all jammed up against each other in a way that made me feel suffocated and confused about how daily life was lived there. As the morning went on and the rain softly fell, I was overcome with emotion as I watched children wading calf high through the mud, old folks sitting talking to themselves in a crazed state of loneliness, middle-aged men shouting and sweating to move the muck away from their front stoops, and heavy bellied women balancing the days fare atop their heads. It was too much and yet, I saw Haitians around me continuing to lift their hands in worship of the Father, thanking them for His love and mercy.
Could your family survive in these conditions? They are.
Nick and I soon parted ways after the rousing church service. Nick stayed to take part in Femi Awodele's study on living holy while single and I left to go work with a group of 30 young girls in an orphanage. Nick has had a burden lately for marriages and has studied Femi's materials thoroughly. Forgive my small plug here, but if you or someone you know could benefit from some teaching on Godly marriage principles, please visit: http://www.christiancouples.org/ or give Nick a call, he would love to talk to you!
Our team leader Bib and my soon to be sister-n-law Saidah, came with me to the orphanage to work with these young girls. If you don't already know, they were sexually abused and misused after the earthquake last year. Some were even sold. Some as young as 11. We got there in the heat of the afternoon to find all these shy girls sitting in a room waiting and watching us with calculating eyes. I have to be honest here, I was a wreck! A bag of supplies was missing, I was tired, and I didn't really know the emotions that would wash over me as I looked into their hard tired eyes. I was angry. I was heartbroken. I was motivated to make this short time with them matter. Teacher mode soon took over and I shared with them a quick little ditty about how God allowed art and writing to help me get through some of my toughest times. We then broke into three groups with Bib leading portrait drawing, Saidah leading colored pencil drawing, and I leading watercolors.
The girl in the striped shirt is looking for someone to adopt her baby, is it you?
It wasn't long before secret smiles, soft giggles, and the desire to create washed over them. I watched in amazement as they transformed from hard women into mischievous teenagers-kids. Before we knew it, it was time to pack up and go with promises of coming back the next day. Bib and I took some time to pray over the smiling 12 year old who'd delivered her baby days before and a 13 and 16 year old who were expecting as well. The 16 year old literally took our hands and placed them on her belly. That was rough.
Think about all that she's gone through and she still raises her hand in worship. Convicting to say the least!
As Nick and I looked back at the end of the day, we were never so thankful for the provision our Father bestowed upon us to see these beautiful people living a life we could never imagine. We were never so thankful to have the many blessings we do...
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