Haiti: Day 1

Day 1:  

I don’t think any of our team was prepared for the ambush we experienced walking out of customs and stepping foot in Port au Prince.  I can’t really describe it except it was somewhat like being a high profile celebrity who forgot to bring their body guards along with them. We had 34 twenty gallon tubs filled with humanitarian aide split up between us on carts we were trying to push on rocky ground out to our bus plus the two personal carry on bags we were trying to keep up with.  We were told to hang on to our bags and not allow anyone to help us…I still don’t know how we made it to the bus, but praise God we did.  It was all a bit of a shocking blur.  From this point we traveled in the bus up into the mountains of Mirebalais where the orphanage sits.  The land of Haiti is breathtakingly beautiful!  The drivers in Haiti are terrible.  At one point during our trip we had our team separated into two trucks.  Did you know a 5 passenger pick up in America can hold 15 passengers in Haiti?  Anyway, the driver of our truck actually ran into the back of our other team’s truck.  They are always honking their horns and when I asked why they do that, they said it’s just letting the person in front of you know that you are coming up behind them and want to go faster than them.  Then, whether or not they can tell if it’s safe or not, they go for the pass.  I had to shut my eyes several times!  Every time we traveled from one place to another, I felt like I was on some thrill ride at Six Flags except there were no safeguards like seat belts.   They all claimed they had a Haitian driver’s license but I never did actually see one. 

 

The best part of my first day in Haiti was when our bus entered the orphanage.  It was somewhere around 7:30 in the evening and the first thing we passed when entering was the sight and sound of Haitians under the tent worshiping the Lord.  I felt an instant sense of peace.  We were greeted with so much love and hospitality and were taken to eat what was my first Haitian meal…rice and beans with an assortment of sides.  It was great!  After dinner, I was very hopeful to meet Gaelle.  It turned out that they had already gone to bed.  I was sort of bummed but felt God’s provision and knew the timing of our first embrace was in His hands.  We unloaded our things and set up our tents on the basketball court.  Somehow my tent partner, Heather, and I ended up with  a donated tent from Cabellas that was huge.  Everyone was joking that we were sleeping in a condo.  After getting situated I headed over to the orphanage to use the restrooms and brush my teeth.  I ran into one of the nannies and asked if I could just see Gaelle sleeping.  I wasn’t intending for her to wake her up but I did want to peak in.  The next thing I know, the nanny is standing in the door way with Gaelle in her arms.  My heart exploded.  She handed her to me and with sleepy eyes, Gaelle looked into mine and then rested her head on my shoulder.  Tears started flowing and I immediately started praying for her.  I had been waiting for over two months to have this very embrace and it was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.  Thank you my Lord!