For the first couple of days, it was surreal for me to realize I was back in Haiti. It touched my heart that many of the kids in the orphanage remembered me, especially little 8 year old Islanda, my beautiful girl I bonded with last year! She was attached to me the whole week! :)
The orphanage kids are some of the most amazing kids I’ve ever met. They have the sweetest, strongest, most helpful spirits! I always enjoy being “Mama Paige” when I’m in Haiti!
My teammates and I also enjoyed some incredible times of worship with our Haitian church family. It still amazes me how free and joyful they are in worship. They do not hold back at all, even though to our standards, they have nothing. Many of them are faithful to walk to church in
the dark every night! One of myfavorite times this year was when our mission team was called up and the church prayed for us. Then, we proceeded to sing together, in Kreyol and English, “When We All Get to Heaven.” What a sweet time with our God that was!
We definitely had a busy schedule during our trip, March 31st-April 4th! We had a medical clinic for 3 days in a row, seeing between 600-700 patients. I worked over in the school for a few days, where we had the children write thank you letters to their sponsors, delivered gifts to them from
their sponsors, and we also taught the students and teachers some fun classroom games. We also did some construction and painting in the orphanage and definitely spent a lot of time loving on the orphanage children.
On the last full day of ministry, we went to the prison. Going to the prison in Haiti is always a trying experience. There are 20-25 prisoners crammed in a very small cell, and they normally only get fed a porridge like substance. So, our mission team along with the Haitian church members, were able to take them a good meal, Bibles, tracts, and some goodie bags. We walked around cell to cell and prayed and talked with the prisoners. My teammate, Pastor Armando, led many people to the Lord that day!
Personally, I saw God at work in a most mighty way through 2 precious little girls, Madeline and Rosaline. Madeline was brought to us during the first day of medical clinic. She was near death and very malnourished. She is 2 years old but weighed only 18 pounds. She was so weak that she didn’t even know how to walk yet. Her mom had died and her aunt, who brought her to the medical clinic, had not been feeding her, even though she was feeding her
own 2 children. We got her hooked up to an IV and saw her get much better in a matter of days. By the end of the week, she was eating solid food and smiling! Since she was staying with us through the week, our team got very attached to her, especially me! She is absolutely beautiful with some of the longest eyelashes I’ve ever seen! She also had quite the sassy little attitude sometimes! But I am thankful and comforted to know now that she is being taken care of at a clinic in Haiti and at the orphanage.
Rosaline was also brought to us through the medical clinic. She is 6 years old and weighed 22
pounds. Due to her diet of small portions of rice, her body had been deprived of protein, so she was very swollen and had bad sores on her little feet. Thankfully,
her mom is attentive and loving, and they live in the community near the mission, so they will be ministered to. By the end of the week, Rosaline had also bonded with the orphanage kids and was smiling at us too and feeling much better!
It’s amazing to see God at work as Provider and Healer! My faith was tested several times that week as I looked at these beautiful little faces and wondered how this could happen. But the Lord kept telling me to trust Him and pray over these little ones.
I also remain thankful for the special relationships formed with our Haitian family and friends, the children in the orphanage, and among our mission team. How awesome it was to serve with 2 other churches, make new friends and experiences and see everyone’s gifts and abilities used for the glory of the Lord!
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