On day 2 of VBS, we roll up to our spot by the blue tarps, between piles of left over burnt trash and 2 broken, beat up trucks. Our arms were loaded with silly bands for the kids, and our little group of boys where waiting patiently for us to arrive. Isaiah 45:23
Turn to me and be saved, all you end of the earth, for I am God and there is no other. As we prepared for VBS the children strolled in, as well as the mommas. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice this little girl hobbling. We must have all noticed her at the same time because we all rushed over to her. Amongst all the mommas stood the prettiest little girl in a pink dress with the coolest little Jellies on. One leg, from the knee down, was twisted in every direction. Sweet tender Jennie asked whose baby she was and for details on what happened to her. Between the mommas, our translator and us, we didn’t get a clear story on what happened, but it comes down to this child’s leg could have been fixed within weeks. Being in Haiti, this quick fix turns into a lifetime crutch for her. Job 6:8
Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for. This little girl was one of my biggest regrets of the week. I felt that God had prepared me for something like this and I had been looking for this opportunity. I should have gone to her, put my hand on her little leg and prayed for God to heal it. Instead I thought about praying for her, a little later perhaps, and took a picture of her. A little later, I forgot about it and she was gone. That was the only day she came to VBS. All week I waited for that little girl to return but she didn’t. I had one chance to ask for God to heal her and I hesitated too long. I walked around taking a few more pictures, the children love, love, love for you to take their picture and looking at themselves on the camera. Job 5:9 & 9:10
He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. Hebrews 11:1
Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. During craft time we tried splitting the group into two groups, one half playing while the other did crafts. Our VBS leader discussed the bracelets and beads. The children watched as the other half played, sang and danced. When we began passing out bracelets the children began multiplying. Little hands out stretched eager for whatever you were giving. Children tug, pull, call and motion they need one. The creel word for “sit” quickly became part of my vocabulary. As we began passing out black beads, representing our sin, the little hands multiplied. Some needed bracelets, some beads. As we passed out red beads, representing the blood Jesus shed for our sin, little hands multiplied. More tugging, pulling, calling, motioning. The words of their little faces, the expressions in their eyes, knowing full well they were taking advantage of us but I didn’t care, it was hard to deny them. At this point we are passing out bands, black beads, and red beads with little hands in your face, tugging, pulling and pushing. Did I mention handing out stuff was maddening? Philippians 4:19
And my God will meet all of your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. As I reach for more beads I notice my hands had begun trembling. My body needed food but there was no stopping place. I knew my body would not be able to handle this much longer but there were still so many kids. There had to be a better way to do this. Little hands stretched out holding half made bracelets in your face, tugging, pulling, calling, motioning. I took a bracelet, put it together, tied it on the little arm and sent them out. So we began going down the row. Take a band, put it together, tie it on and out they go, another little body would fill the space and we would repeat. With every bracelet I put together I became shakier, light headed and weaker. 1 Peter 1:24-25 & Isaiah 40:6-8
For, “All men are like grass, and all their glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you. I have no idea how long we made bracelets. I worked like a little worker bee, head down, plugging away. In the mean time our other half played, sang, danced, and swarmed with kids, tugging, pulling, calling, and sweating in the hot sun. At this point I didn’t know what was worse; being swarmed with little hands and beaded bracelets or playing and singing your heart out in the sun. We made bracelets until we had no more. We played and sang until we could no more. We gave until we could give no more. Isaiah 26:4
Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal. When we returned to the hotel for lunch our day was not done. We started right in preparing for the next day’s craft. We prepared, put together, misheard, beaded, tied, cut, glued, bagged, organized, counted, stacked, folded… until dinner at 7:00. Needless to say we were pooped and crafted out.

Job 11:13-16
Yet if you devote your heart to him and stretch out your hands to him; if you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, then you will lift up your face without shame; you will stand firm and without fear.

We’re still here

Inside the hotel walls it seemed like a vacation on some tropical island. I hear a rooster crow outside the window and think of home. As I opened the door of the room the smell of burnt trash and plastic smacked me in the face. I heard myself say “Yep, we’re still here” as I shut the door. On day one of VBS I was geared up and excited to see the children and do our activities with them. We were told that a tent would be set up, providing shade, and tones of children would be sitting under the tent weighting on us. When we got there, nothing was as we were told it would be. We played with the few boys that were there as we weighted. The Haitian men set up a tent made of tarps and sticks, and the woman brought wooden benches for the children to set on. The first day was crazy. The children are so sweet, their smiles, contagiously beautiful. We handed out silly bands and they love them. Most of the children swarmed you; some were a little afraid and timid. We sang songs, played games, did crafts, told stories, acted out plays, and loved on children. They pushed, pulled, tugged, tapped, and called us by name with their Haitian accents in every direction. The children craved so much; Love, attention, affection, water, food, us. They craved so much and we gave so much but it still was not enough. Philippains 4:4-7
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving; present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and your minds in Christ Jesus. I got to tell the first bible story of the week. Being so tender hearted for Jesus I wasn’t sure how I would tell the story without overwhelming the children with my tears. I had prayed for weeks asking God to comfort me, give me peace and strength to tell the story. Thankfully I got a story I was familiar with, The Prodigal son. Even though I know the story well, I was so afraid I would mess it up. There were over 200 kids that day. As I stood there preparing for story time emotions filled my heart for them, hurt, pity, sadness. Filled with extra emotions I didn’t think I would be able to tell the story. I so desperately wanted to tell someone else to do it, someone that could tell stories better than I could, but I knew it was something I needed to overcome. I slowly told the story giving our translator time to translate and time for me to get my thoughts together. Of course it was soft spoken and the only thing that saved it was the VBS team that did an amazing job acting with costumes and all. They made it interesting and funny and the children intensely eat it up.

The verse that day was also one of my most favorite and dearest verses in the whole bible. This verse was the verse I cling to during one of the hardest sessions in my life.

Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the plains I have for you”, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future”.

The verse continues “Then you will call upon me and come to me in prayer, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you search for me with your whole heart. I will be found by you”, declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity”.

By this time only 2 hours had gone by but it felt like 5. We had been so busy with the children that we hadn’t notice the construction crew had gone to collect supplies with the vehicle that had the cooler of water. It seemed like 3:00 pm, we are looking for food, water, shade. I’m thinking “we’re ready to go now”, and I notice it’s only 10:00 am, no ride and no team leader. The day seamed to go on f…o…r… e…v…e…r...

Isaiah 12:2-3
Surly God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. With JOY you will draw water from the wells of salvation.The first day of something new is always a day spent figuring out what works and what doesn’t. Around 1:00 the VBS team headed back to the hotel as the construction team stayed to work. Not knowing how ordering food worked, we decided to wait on the rest of the team to eat. Lunch was a collection of everyone’s snacks. Out of everything I had not prepared myself for, not being able to eat was the one thing I had. I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat as much as my body needed. I knew of the physical consequences that I would endure, lack of energy, intestinal malfunctions, but I hadn’t prepared for stomach pains. A pain in the pit of your stomach that hurt so bad you double over and felt as though a hand is reaching up out of your throat. Monday’s lunch was the only meal we skipped the whole week but was the beginning of not enough. Haitian children also have these pains. To ease the pain, they are fed mud cookies; part mud, part water, a drop of lemon juice and shortening. Mud and water that has been urinated on, stepped on, kick around, burnt trash on, and who knows what? This sad reality breaks my heart. It took almost 7 days for the pain in my stomach to stop hurting after we returned home. 7 days of filling my stomach every hour with as much as I could. 7 days of a pain that felt like someone punched me as hard as they could in the gut every hour. I can’t imagine how those children feel living with that pain every day knowing there is nothing to stop their pain.

Matthew 11:28-30

Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentile and humble in heart; and you shall find rest unto your soles, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.