Days 4 and 5.

[First, to answer mom, yes, the fan is working wonders. It really helps me sleep. But some nights it gets cool enough that I turn it off and crawl under my sheet... and the taco method's working just fine. The only issue with heat and sleeping comes when we have the tarps on as we go to sleep. But usually we just take them off - God has blessed us with rain-free nights thus far.]

Tuesday, July 27.

Yesterday was amazing. We were told we were going to a pediatric hospital in the morning. I, of course, was thrilled at this idea because of what I hope to do in the future. (Work as a child psychologist in a pediatric hospital.) It was a long ride up into the mountains we've been checking out from the orphanage since we got here. It was also my first ride in the back of a truck, and it was amazing to be so close to and exposed to the street life. We felt very safe (of course, mom) as we had a Haitian in the back with us and sat on the truck bed. But still, there were plenty of times I could have reached out and touched people walking by. If you need a coke, someone can be called up to the side and you can buy it from them when you are stalled in traffic. If you need to load up on cell phone minutes, it can be done at a street corner. Its like drive-thrus, but much more convenient since you don't even have to leave the street!

Once we got to the hospital I began to get a bit nervous as we walked towards the children's tents. Yes, tents. At a hospital. Of course, no part of Port-au-Prince was spared in the earthquake, so the hospital suffered some damage. Also, the number of patients increased. So there were children (and adults) who were recieving care from nurses and doctors for serious illnesses in a makeshift tent on what used to be a street. However, as the Haitians seem to do well, they made it work. The first tent we walked into had about 9 beds with children from about 2-9 years old in them. We prayed with all the children and gave them lunches, but there was one girl who stood out from the rest. She was a bright little thing who talked to us from the moment we found her until long after we left, teaching us how to correctly pronounce creole, despite our pitiful understandings. She had a beautiful face, but we saw her eyes were focused strangely. Steve (our Haitian translator) told us she had lost her mother to a bad fever, and after that had gone blind. (Trauma?) It was so moving to see such a bright little girl who just shone and made everyone in the tent smile and laugh, even in such a desperate situation. She has been a reminder of the resilience of people, and especially of Haitian children. She gives me hope for Haiti's future. The next tent was full of babies, and this, as you can imagine, was hard to be in. I teared up as I prayed for several of the babies, but, again, it was encouraging to see fathers, family members, and big sisters dutifully keeping watch by their cribs.

That afternoon (yes, that was just the morning), we went to have worship in a tent city. The entire base loaded up and headed to a new city we hadn't seen yet. While some of the guys set up a makeshift stage, we played with children who were so happy and ready just to be given attention. When worship began, it was so great to have people walk around their home, worshipping freely. I found out that Mama (the Brazilian woman pastor who works at this base) would be preaching. So I saw her off to the side of the stage as we were singing, and I felt the need to go pray with her beforehand. (We bonded because I spoke with her a little earlier, and she was incredibly thankful, as she only speaks Spanish so only a few people can have conversations with her.) So I prayed with her, and she seemed to appreciate it, but I felt like God had brought me over there for more, so I hung out. And she asked me to take some pictures while she was teaching, so I stuck around. She had what sounded like an awesome message (Portuguese to Creole, so I only got her inflection and hand talking), and when she turned to head off the stage, she recieved applause. And surprised me by falling into my arms in tears and an amazing prayer of thankfulness to God. And I knew that was why God had led me over there earlier that night. :)

Got home kind of late. Slept very well.

Wednesday, July 28.

Half-way point today! In some ways (the shower, the hard ground, the lack of AC in my life) it's a relief. But in most ways (the children, getting to know the Haitians, the YWAM staff, Walter (the cook)'s good cooking....), it seems like it's gone too fast!

We started off today with a "gate change", as has become our team's motto for the trip. Ever since our numerous gate changes in Atlanta, we've learned the value of flexibility. So every time our plans change, especially at the last second, one of us yells "gate change" and we all have a good laugh and a reminder that there are more important things than plans.

We ended up going to an different orphanage in Port-au-Prince that one of the staff has a relationship with. The children were so precious and very excited about having us there. All the girls wore dresses that looked so pretty they could be Easter dresses. We played with them, they asked "what is your name" in English, and once they attached themselves to one of us, they were glued to our side. We taught them about creation, how to play Red Rover (Rougue Rover) and an intense game of duck-duck-goose. (It's funny, because we didn't translate it into some of their animals, so they say "dok, dok, ooooooo!") Then we headed back to the base and had an easy afternoon.

I was able to wash some clothes (because the whole one shirt-two day idea isn't working out). Jeremy (one of the kids at this orphanage) was such a helper-he tried to wash my clothes for me! :D

Love it here, but missing home.