Visiting in the Village

When the team was here last month, Donnie and I went visiting in the village. It's quite an adventure to be out and about in the village. The sights, sounds, and smells are truly Haiti. I love seeing friends from church and the excitement on the faces of the school children as they spot the "blanc" walking by. They run after us grabbing my arm, grinning & singing "Mama Sherry, Mama Sherry". Soon we have collected quite a throng of followers, some curious about the white ladies walking by, some hoping for a handout, most just wanting to be recognized and acknowledged.
We walk past simple homes made of mud-covered sticks with thatched roofs and others hand-made blocks or even stones collected from the river bed.


We see the laundry that has been washed down at the river and hung out on the fence and cactus hedge to dry. We pass by the family pig taking a nap under a tree to escape the hot, midday sun.


At one home, with a little storefront to bring in some grocery money for the family, a grandmother tends to a baby and shares a plate of spaghetti noodles. She is unsure about us- and our camera- at first, but as the children beg to have their picture taken, she warms up to us just a little.


My attention is drawn to the girl in the doorway to the store. I can't take my eyes off of her. I have spent a lot of time looking at and praying over these pictures. To me, she is a picture of the despair of Haiti. She is young and beautiful. She should be playing with her friends and living her life with hope- filled abandon, as most children do. But instead, we see her timidly holding back. She is obviously not being watched after closely. Her dress is not even really on her, and yet she clutches it around her.

She is the reason we are in Haiti. This girl and the thousands more like her- without hope outside of Jesus.
We continue on the dusty, rocky, thorny footpaths until we reach the home of Pierrelens, our destination. Pierrelens is sponsored by a class at Shindler Drive Baptist and Donnie & the team are delivering gifts from them. We also wanted to meet his family and explain to them that it is because of the love of Jesus that Pierrelens is sponsored and able to attend school and be provided for.


Mama isn't home, but much of the family is there. First we give the family gifts of oil, rice, beans, sugar, and peanut butter.

Then Donnie hands the bag to Pierrelens that the children have had their eye on. It is filled with treats and trinkets any little boy would love.





The class has also enclosed a framed picture of themselves. Donnie explains that these people care about him and pray for him each day. They want him to know about Jesus and be a man for Jesus. I hope that the picture makes these people real to him. But more importantly, because of their sacrifice that Jesus will become real to him.