I will never forget her face. Her face will always remind me of a picture of incredible faith. Meeting her today probably was one of the most rewarding moments of being in Haiti.
I should start by telling you the story of how I met this lady in the blue dress. I am ashamed to say I don't ever recall getting her name. But meeting her will stick with me forever.
I will start at the beginning of the day. Today was an emotional day. It was emotional for several reasons. One being that I knew the time was winding down when Kevin and I would have to depart Haiti soon and I was not at all ready to start saying goodbyes. I am sure it is hard for some people to imagine how one might be able to feel that way after only being at the orphange for 3 days, but I did. I can't explain it, except that God was doing a work on my heart.
Our group left in the morning as we typically did and headed out for the day. We made our way across the border passing tons of garbage, poverty, and children doing hard manual work to earn a little bit of money to eat that day.
As we got to the orphanage, the children ran up and greeted us as they usually did. We all got to work, working on various projects during the morning until lunch. At lunch we gathered back together to eat.
After lunch, it was time for Chicken Runs again. Today, Kevin and I would get to be with the group that would deliver the food to the people. We loaded on the truck with several of the kids from the orphanage and headed out.
I continued to be in shock at the level of poverty you would see when passing through the market and local town.
We got to make a stop at another orphanage on the way. This orphanage is run by a Haitian pastor and his wife. It was much different from Danita's Children. The picture to the right is the gate entrance.The orphanage grows their own garden full of peanuts, plantains, avocados and beautiful flowers. Emily, the nurse that works at Danita's Children, actually lives at this orphanage full time. She comes in and works at the clinic at Danita's Children Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
Here are some more pictures from the orphanage.
All the girls at the orphanage sang to us before we left. They sang "Our Father's House." It was the sweetest thing ever.
These are pictures of their garden.
After touring the compound, we left to go deliver chickens. Little did I know that the first encounter I would go on, would change my heart forever.
We pulled up to a small shack. I noticed a woman standing outside on the porch in what seemed to be a towel for clothing. There were a couple of children hanging around the property. The lady went inside quickly as she saw us pull up to the house. We gathered the supplies we were delivering and walked up to the front of the house.
Bill, the missionary guiding us, told us that the lady went inside to put on her Sunday dress, the only dress that she owns and wears to church on Sundays at the orphanage. She put on the nicest piece of clothing she owned to come out and greet us.
We entered the small shack with rice, beans, oil, and chickens in tow. The lady slowly grabbed each item from us and set it down either on the floor or on the only piece of furniture in the small room which was an old small table.
Looking around the room, I couldn't believe how small this place was. It could not have been any bigger than my own bedroom at home. It had a small room attached with a very old and dirty looking bed.
After the lady put the items down, I noticed that she had tears rolling down her cheeks. She turned to face us all and began to weep. All of a sudden she raised her arms up in the air in praise to God. She started praising God in Creole, crying the whole time. She did this for what seemed like a minute or so. I watched as my own eyes welled up with tears. I looked around the room at the other team members and every single one of them, men included, had tears in their eyes. We all watched in silence as she gave thanks to God for providing food for her family. It was the most incredible picture of faith I had ever seen. This woman did not have much. But the way she praised the Lord was if she just knew he would provide and was rejoicing at him answering her prayers. Afterwards she spoke to us in Creole and kept pointing up towards the sky. We could not understand what she was saying but knew she was talking about God providing for her. She then raised her hands over us and began praying over us. Afterwards, she hugged each one of us goodbye. As people walked towards the door to leave, I turned back one more time to look at her face. We locked eyes and I returned to hug her once more. She immediately put her hands on my shoulder and started praying over me. I teared up and hugged her afterwards. Several people returned back into the house and she began to speak to us about her situation. Robinson, one of the older boys from the orphanage, translated for us. She told us how she was raising 6 grandchildren of hers. She said she couldn't abandon them and that she had to care for them because she loved them.
After her story, our team departed and got back on the truck for the next run. I felt like I was in a daze. I could still see the image in my mind of her raising her hands up to God praising Him without any reservation. Her story, her face, the children living in the small shack with her....it all shook me to the core. What incredible faith to have when you have little to nothing. She trusted and relied on God to provide for her and the children she was raising. She could not work and the children were all too young to work, so she had to rely solely on the Lord to meet her needs. Bill made a comment to me that really stuck with me. He said that the woman really gave back to us all she had to give--prayer. She had nothing else to offer us but a prayer. But what an incredible gift it was.
My hope from sharing her story is that many of us can be inspired by her faith and hope and also realize how we have so much. Being in that little shack with that family really opened my eyes to true suffering in this world. I live so comfortably. I don't worry that I won't have something to eat or a place to sleep at night. In the US we have so many social nets that we can fall back on--a soup kitchen for a warm meal, a homeless shelter, welfare, food stamps, housing programs, etc. In Haiti, there are no social nets...just day to day survival.
It definitely was a life changing experience and I am forever grateful to have been able to be part of it.
Here is a quote to chew on for the day. I found it from one of my favorite books, "The Hole in Our Gospel."
“May God bless you with anger
At injustice, oppression,
And exploitation of people,
So that you may work for justice,
Freedom, and peace.
May God bless you with tears
To shed for those who suffer pain,
Rejection, hunger, and war,
So that you may reach out your
Hand to comfort them and
To turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with
Enough foolishness
To believe that you can make
A difference in the world,
To that you can so what others
Claim cannot be done
To bring justice and kindness to
All our children and the poor.”
- Franciscan benediction
