Being my very first experience in Haiti I honestly had no idea what to expect to feel or see. If I'm being really honest, the drive from the airport to Mission of Hope is really something that you can not prepare someone for seeing without your own eyes. You look around and really are just in disbelief that children and families live like this. Some of the things we have passed along the way or seen in villages so far are images that tear at your heart. I think shock and sadness would probably be the best word to describe my initial feelings at seeing Haiti for the first time.
Staying at Mission of Hope you are able to hear about all the ways God has used Mission of Hope to do amazing things in the villages......but....there is so much left to do here....so much.
But...in the midst of these frustrations and sadness and heaviness I have seen already so many glimpses and moments of happiness, of pure joy and hope.
My prayer this week is not only that our heart breaks for what breaks Jesus's heart, but also that we increase and multiply those glimpses of joy and hope we see in the hearts of the Haitians..
Like Marissa said above this experience has been humbling to the say least. There is something indescribable about Haiti, and the people here. I see now why so many of the ladies in this amazing group keep coming back again, and again. There is a love here, a community and so much hope. I know the Lord is working in great ways, even if I do not see it all. In church this morning I sat there and could not stop my tears from flowing, watching the way the Haitians worship...there is a pureness in it. So real, so raw and so incredibly beautiful. This journey is also unbelievably sad, and hard for me as a first timer. You want to help, and when you hold a beautiful girl who hugs you tight and you have to tell her Grandmother that you can not pay for her to go to preschool, when you see little ones in tears with no clothes on, and no on one running to scoop them up, when you hear about orphans, disease, death, tent homes, and malnourishment it breaks you. There is so much I want to soak in and learn from this experience. I just know God Is present and has big beautiful plans for Haiti.
Kelli & Marissa and the October women's team
But...in the midst of these frustrations and sadness and heaviness I have seen already so many glimpses and moments of happiness, of pure joy and hope.
My prayer this week is not only that our heart breaks for what breaks Jesus's heart, but also that we increase and multiply those glimpses of joy and hope we see in the hearts of the Haitians..
Like Marissa said above this experience has been humbling to the say least. There is something indescribable about Haiti, and the people here. I see now why so many of the ladies in this amazing group keep coming back again, and again. There is a love here, a community and so much hope. I know the Lord is working in great ways, even if I do not see it all. In church this morning I sat there and could not stop my tears from flowing, watching the way the Haitians worship...there is a pureness in it. So real, so raw and so incredibly beautiful. This journey is also unbelievably sad, and hard for me as a first timer. You want to help, and when you hold a beautiful girl who hugs you tight and you have to tell her Grandmother that you can not pay for her to go to preschool, when you see little ones in tears with no clothes on, and no on one running to scoop them up, when you hear about orphans, disease, death, tent homes, and malnourishment it breaks you. There is so much I want to soak in and learn from this experience. I just know God Is present and has big beautiful plans for Haiti.
Kelli & Marissa and the October women's team
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