Thursday November 22

Today we had the opportunity to tour Grace Village, the pictures and videos I have seen did not do any justice to just how amazing this place is!  God is doing amazing things there everyday, with a tilapia troft and a place to plant fresh vegetables being built right now along with a clinic.   The kids were in school while we were there but some were having recess and playing on the playground, basketball and soccer.  All with such big happy smiles on their face.  Truly an amazing experience and can't wait to go back on Sunday to spend time with the children
      After we left Grace Village we went to visit the elderly, our first stop was to an elderly man named Agust, who greeted us with such joy!  We packed a bag of canned meats, graham crackers and water to give to him.   Junior and Brunet helped us sing to him and the joy on Agust's  face was priceless, he thanked all us personally and we left with such heavy hearts. Is this what God was talking about when he said we are to help the most vulnerable?  This weighs heavy on my heart when all I could do was bring him some food and water for a meal or two. Our second stop was Edmond's shanty.  Edmond is an elderly man who has been blind since he was born.  We also brought him some canned meats, graham crackers, water and 2 bananas.  He ate both bananas while we sang to him.  After we were done he packed up all the food and hid it under his mattress so no one would steal it. Healing Haiti sponsors several elderly people who do not have much access to food or family that is able to assist them much.
      After finishing up dropping off the meals we stopped to have lunch on the side of the road by the ocean.  We all enjoyed our snack bars, beef jerky and water while enjoying the view of the mountains and ocean.
     After lunch we stopped by the mass grave sites, from what I understand there could be up to 150,000 people buried here.  The Hatians honored the people of January 12 2010 with several crosses and a memorial.  This place has such a sense of beauty but at the same time so much saddness. 
     Our last stop of the day was at Gertrudes Orphanage for special needs children.  What an honor to be able to spend time with Gods most precious children.  These children almost always had a smile on their face and wanting to play with us.  Dave learned a valuable lesson this day, that yes you can make children laugh to much and end up with a shirt full of stomach contents, the look on his face was absolutely priceless.  One of the children that touched me most was a little boy that I would guess to be about 3, unable to walk or talk but I could see such happiness in his big brown eyes and smile.  Truly a blessing to be able to spend an afternoon with these children of God.
    After a truly long day, we came home to a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner.  Phonese and Natasha had spent several hours preparing us a special meal, chicken, egg plant, potatoes, spinach, rice, cucumbers, plantains and several other delicious foods.  We all went around the table saying what we were most thankful for.   Even though we are all so far away from our families we are extremely happy to be here together to help our Haitian brothers and sisters.  This experience has truly changed our hearts forever.
    We ended the day with our devotions and word of the day.  The first 3 days most of our words had to do with sadness, guilt or grief.  This day it had changed to sewre (creole for smile), privilaged beauty, hope, success and honored.  Today was a turning point where we are beginning to see hope and beauty instead of sadness and destruction.   Truly a blessed experience that
     Just a side note, in case there is ever any confusion the girls did beat the boys fair and square in Catch Phrase.  That was another humbling experience that the boys will be able to take back home with them from Haiti