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. 
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 4:4-7Rejoice 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”.
“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 12:2-3Surly 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.
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