Follow on Success

The SJLC Servant Team followed up with what was another terrific servant experience conducting VBS.  Our team traveled to a village near where we were yesterday.  Saron again told the story of David and Goliath with the help of Jennifer, our translator, but unlike yesterday, the children were familiar with the story.  Following the Bible story time, we split into two groups - boys and girls.  The boys went outside and split into three groups, playing whiffle ball, soccer, and parachute games.  The interesting part of the whiffle ball, was not only were the kids involved with doing something new, but the parents standing alongside where we were playing, also participated.  They swung the bat, hit the ball, and did a lot of smiling.  The baseball field also came with three goats, tied up in various parts of the field.  The soccer and parachute games were once again a big success.  The girls stayed in the church and colored and did a craft.  They were great about sharing the crayons and helping one another which was somewhat different than yesterday.  One of the biggest things that hit us was that there was a girl with Down's Syndrome who was a part of the activities.  This was remarkable because she was part of the activities, whereas usually those with disabilities in Haiti are shunned or discarded as babies.  Sarah's "teacher look" emerged a few times when some of the other girls were laughing at her coloring.  She had some great hits on the whiffle ball field and yet, when she made contact and hit the ball, the same people who were laughing at her coloring, cheered her on.  Following the different activities, we again handed out the lunches (pb sandwiches and kool-aid) and a goody bag before saying "good-bye!"

After refueling our bodies, we headed to the infamous tin shops.  It was a great opportunity to put money into the Haitian economy.  We purchased many different tin products for families, friends, and churches.  It's always an experience to see these entrepreneurs apply their trade.  Saron was again our biggest spender!  While there we ran into some other Americans from Colorado and Ohio.  

We got back to Hope House around 3:30 and spent some quality time reflecting with one another and having some prime fellowship time.  We concluded the evening with devotions, which lead to some very insightful conversation by everyone relative to the assigned readings and what we're experiencing in Haiti.  The veterans on the team, Jim, Sarah, Greer, Richard, and Paul, have concluded that this new aspect of serving in Haiti, doing VBS out in the community, is an insightful experience and is an important part of what our mission is in Haiti.  It's a great balance between service projects and reaching out and connecting with Haitian families which is something we haven't done before.  

We look forward to more serving tomorrow through painting and fixing toilets!