Saturday ... a day of Blessings

Saturday in Haiti. What another wonderful day here in Haiti. We spent the day with so many blessings. The first stop of the day was to Grace village were we split up our team one team in the feeding center where we set up and did Christmas ornaments with the children.  The other half of the team went to work on the Library building and putting up shelving and books. What a blessing this will be to the area. Imagine what a gift something as simple as a book can be to someone with no opportunity around them.  Getting to work side by side with the Haitians  and friends was a true blessing.  We picked up three beautiful young women from the transition house.  This is their own house where three older teens live.  A place to prepare them for living on their own, learning life skills like cooking cleaning and decision making.  We taught them the game of charades en route, and had a great time.  They were being paid to cook dinner for our team at the guest house as we went up to the lookout to see the view of Port-au-Prince. Awesome views.

The highlight of the day was not in the views or service, but in something as simple as talking with the young ladies whom prepared a wonderful dinner. Throughout the trip and the evening meal the girls were extremely shy not saying much or responding to questions. They would be spending the night in some empty rooms.  We had a few hrs to talk.  My daughter  was the person of the group they were hanging out with because she was the closest in age.  I was acting as interpreter between them. It was   a challenging time at first because my daughter was as quite as they were.  I decided to ask them how their life is.  I learned how they lived while not at school and what their dreams where.  Slowly they were opening up. We were able to bond and build a relationship as I told them how to forgive others, what a blessing it is to be able to smile at someone and receive a smile in return, personal stories and examples of  how forgiveness and helping others is what God asks us to do.  He will bless us with friendship and love from others. These beautiful ladies have gone through so much more than you or I can ever imagine.  I was so privileged and blessed to have spent this time with them.  Thank you God for Three new friends.  May you bless them throughout their lives.

~ John