Digital

One great thing about this team trip is our ‘pausing’ exercise. We have started out daily with a reflection and devotion time. Today was extra special as Dan shared openly and with candor during his devotional he was to present. The tenor of these moments in Haiti seem to always solidify our team endeavors and build strong bonds of connectivity that act as a binding agent for good throughout the day. It’s not something new, but something old and forgotten in our culture. Our day was grand, and much was accomplished. A profound surprise surfaced this afternoon, when I walked around the corner coming back from a run to find the painter working on the outside of the house. I was wary for a moment and asked Rob what on earth was happening. He said they are painting the house. Of course I knew that, I was the one who made the contract for the downstairs and the upstairs painting project. Inside that was! He is painting outside! Turns out the painter meant upstairs, downstairs, inside and outside, for $400.00 US! Not sure what kind of deal you American painters think this is, but I’m thinking on a building the size of our orphanage, this is the mother deal of all my Haitian deals! Our paint crew has been 3 guys strong and they are flying. It’s not the job Ray would have done, but by Haitian standards, the household is loving it. The whole house is fresh, clean, and sparkling, and soon the outside will match the inside. Apparently, and unknowingly, we bought enough paint to do the entire house, and tonight we revel in the provision of the Almighty. We have connected with our orphans on a brand new level, and the enrichment flowing both ways is a beautiful conduit of love to behold. There’s a lot of what could be called mild contact games going on, these kids are devoid of all things digital, and as I watch them dance and play with my team members, I would dare to hope for such connection in our culture again. Even Jake can rip it in the hand clapping contests! Good grief can the big guy move! And the culture is fascinated with him. The kids think he’s a football player, no matter what, to them he is an American wonder. One of the radical changes that has happened is the shift in kitchen duties. Our young Krystle and Emma are baking queens, and have stunned the team with their abilities. I ask my wife now what’s for dinner and she has no idea! People, if you know my wife, this is like a planetary shift. They have cooked it out of the ball park for real. We made our way to the book store to add to the growing library at the orphanage and purchased another big box of books, then we headed to the mountains to have a children’s service in Terre Blanche. It’s a wonder how far the children came from to be at the service today, over 150 when we had a plan for 75. The pastor was really happy, he said they had never had that many children in his church. And the difference in the reaction between the mountain children and the city kids is really remarkable. They are much more reserved, they are the toughest of the tough. We checked on a couple of our children that we have watched over across the years, and they are doing really well. We made it back just before the hardest rain storm we have experienced here in all our prior trips. What a refreshing relief it brought in cool air. As the rain poured down you could literally smell the cleansing happening to the atmosphere. For a moment you were reminded of a place where the air is so clean and breathable, a place so distant and removed from here. A place we get to call home. Robinson has had a busy week along side of our activities as a 30 year old woman from our church passed away unexpectedly and sent shock waves through the church. The funeral is in the morning, so pray for our stricken church family down here. While death is common, even here it sometimes strikes in unexpected ways, on unexpected people, at unexpected times. We helped them with the final funds needed to finish the purchase of a new and larger generator for service at the church, and so they are going to be able to start using it this weekend. We are hopeful it sheds a little hope in the midst of the darkness of death and sorrow. The vortex of time sweeps us toward the conclusion of this mission, but even as it does, much continues to happen each day, and we are grateful for the opportunity to serve these delightful and amazing people. Grace and peace to all, blessings again tonight.