"God does not call the equipped, he equips the called." A quote that could sum up the entire trip but was especially powerful today. Our morning started with a stop at Elder's School in Cite Soleil that Healing Haiti partners with. The school educates 500-600 students each day in one of the poorest locations in the world. We were all amazed that even in the midst of such vast poverty, education is so highly valued. Students come from homes made of tarps and rusty tin. Many sleep on dirt floors. Yet they arrive at school in clean uniforms, ready and eager to learn. The students were engaging and excited to show us their schoolwork and classrooms.
After leaving Elder's School, it was back to the streets of Cite Soleil to deliver water to two of the locations we were at on Tuesday. We were able to reconnect with some of the children we met before, which was especially rewarding because this time we came equipped with more basic medical equipment to tend to some of the issues we encountered before. At the water truck refill station, we often get visits from the children from the nearby tent city. It was here that Marcia had an extra special surprise from a girl her husband and brother-in-law met and connected with a year ago on their trip to Haiti. It was good to see that she was doing well...
The afternoon was one of our toughest experiences yet. We went to the Port-au-Prince General Hospital to visit with sick children. While we were all expecting less than ideal conditions and children in pain, none of us were prepared for what we walked into. As we stood in the dark cement hallway and began to feel the gravity of the situation we were about to encounter, many of us found ourselves in prayer...asking for God to help us put our own overwhelming sadness aside and equip us with what we needed to comfort these families. Our first room had four children who had been abandoned. They were severely crippled and deformed. Bones protruding. Cheeks sunken. And yet there was light in their eyes. We held their hands and stroked their heads. We prayed over them for God to bless and keep them, to make His face shine upon them, and to give them His peace. We met a father who was there with his ill daughter who took Jeff's guitar and began playing our songs as we sang. We held babies with fevers. We delivered basic care packages and visited with parents. While the situation itself was difficult, we all felt hope in the many dedicated mothers, fathers and grandparents that were there with their little loved ones.
Our evening ended with a swim at the local hotel and a salsa lesson from our resident dance professional, Jean. Music and laughter spilled over the balcony of the guest house and our hearts were reminded of God's goodness and the joy and encouragement we receive from being a part of the body of Christ.
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