Day 7. Friday, July 30.

Last day of ministry was quite a blessing to us! We visited the tent city across the street from the capital. We walked in and among these people, praying for their health, their safety, and their government while in the shadow of their crumpled head of government. I spoke with one man who told me he was going to school (kind of like college). And living in a tent city. This is when it hit me that the people in the tent cities weren't just those who were down and out before the earthquake, but also everyday Haitians who were unable to recover because of the poor infrastructure or other difficulties. I enjoyed praying with these people, as they invited us, as complete strangers (I felt like an intruder) into their homes. One woman's home was 4 tarp walls and a tarp roof. A makeshift bed dominated the room. As we squeezed in to pray for her business, I truly understood the oppressive heat of living in the tent city. Before we left a guy that was with us had puddles in his shoes from sweat. (gross! haha). But as we spoke with her and learned her story, we heard that her real need was not success for her business but the gift of friendship. She claimed she could trust no one, and so had no friends. It was incredible to see one of the girls talk with her about the need for relationships and how this woman truly longed for that. So, while we bought a few trinkets from her stand and left, my real hope is that she has begun to build relationships. And that maybe one day she will realize that we were created for a relationship with our Maker.
Lunch was MRE's (again) on the bus. :) The novelty had worn off by now. I had a chicken fajita, which did not taste bad at all, but required entirely too many steps to be eaten on a bus ride in Haiti. I wore some of my lunch as a result. We drove by a US base, and all held up our MRE packs in the windows. The guards at the gate gave us a knowing smile and a thumbs up. We supplemented our lunch with plantain chips bought on the street as we drove by a corner. The guy had to run to keep up with the passenger window to give our leader change. :)
The afternoon looked like it was going to pass relatively quietly. But there is no time to be bored in Haiti. Right as we were settling into a quiet afternoon, the skies opened up and blessed us with a glimpse of the rainy season. As we marveled at how quickly the rain had come, we realized that our tent only had a puny rain fly on it. Translation: a puddle would soon be forming where we slept if we didn't do something about it. So we ran out to cover our tent. It was thrilling fighting the rain and wind, and it was so refreshingly cold. When I turned around I saw that the large tent that kept all the tools under it, nice and dry, and lifted up and blown about 100 feet away. At this point everyone at the base ran out to help get the power tools inside and try to get the tent back in its rightful place. Although it could have turned into a time of stress and frustration, instead we were all laughing at how ridiculously soaked everyone was getting and the joy that comes as a gift with unexpected rain.
That night, as we all huddled inside the small house for dinner, we bonded more than we had all week, from the forced closeness and shared experience of the day. I realize more each day how hard it is going to be to leave this place.