Kid Central

This morning, we went to Village of Hope School, and Little Children of Jesus Orphanage.  We had another inspirational experience at the school starting with the kindergarten classes participating in the opening and raising the Haitian flag.  It's very amazing to see these 3, 4, and 5 year olds line up in a straight line (mostly) and be able to sing praises to God and to welcome their American visitors to the Village of Hope.  They have some amazing voices for being so young.  Once again, it was a picture perfect day. As you watched the flag wave, you could look out at the mountains in the background.  Following the kindergarten opening, we walked up to the chapel and participated in the opening session for the secondary school.  As this is a faith-based school, the opening includes devotions, prayers, and lots of beautiful singing.  For both openings, we had the opportunity to be introduced as a visiting servant team from Virginia.  We received a very warm reception.  It was cool to see them open up the school in song and prayer.  We were also very fortunate to have our translators, Jennifer and Pierre, with us so that they could share with us what was being said.  

Then we toured the secondary school which is where we painted on Saturday.  VoH has about 35 acres of land but only takes up about 5 acres so there is a lot of land to work with.  We were able to visit the classrooms where we were able to do all the cleaning and painting which was very noticeable and appreciated.  Those of us that sponsor children were able to meet/see their children.  Jim, Greer, Sarah F., Chris and Diane, and Paul took a picture with their children and were able to chat a bit, thanks to the help of the translators.  We also received a tour of the health center, including the dental suite which opened this year.  It was nice for the new people to see the property (Pastor, Sarah M., and Tim).  The whole time we were there, the health center was filled with patients.  It's easy to see the benefit this facility is bringing to this area of Haiti.  Before leaving, we ate in the dining room with the children.  For many of these children, it's the only meal they have.  So not only are they receiving an education, they are also receiving their daily bread.  Following lunch, many of the team walked up to the cistern that overlooks the school.  It provides a spectacular view of the valley below and the mountains and lake in the distance.  It's hard to remember that in that valley lies so much poverty.  

Our next stop was Little Children of Jesus.  It took us quite a while to get there as we were stuck in a traffic jam due to an accident.  It took us about an hour to go about a quarter mile.  Note, the traffic in Haiti, on a good day, is miserable.  Our experience today was the worst we've seen in eight years.  We finally arrived at LCJ where we spent a couple hours interacting with the orphans, all of whom are mentally or physically incapacitated in one way or the other.  It's hard to describe how emotional  it is visiting this orphanage.  We keep in mind what we were told on our first visit to Haiti - while the bodies of the children might be broken, their spirits are not.  The group is very thankful that these children are so well taken care of on a beautiful property with care givers who provide love and the necessities of life - food, shelter, and clothing.  

We returned to Hope House late in the afternoon and spent the afternoon in fellowship, reflecting on the day and relaxing.  We also had a chance to thank our interpreters for being with us.  For dinner, we had a special treat - Lucien and his family joined us for dinner.  His children ranging in age from three to 21 are well-known to our team, especially Greer, who provided a home for them.  Our devotional time ended strongly tonight with reflections on the week, as well as Holy Communion lead by Pastor Meehan.