Day 4

Day 4 in Haiti has been our most productive so far in terms of our projects, which translates into the longest and hottest for us. As John, Greg, Rob and Brett poured a new shower floor for much of the day and the rest of us painted the inside of the sanctuary we were amazed we could sweat that much and still function. Pastor Scott spent hours up on a ladder while Jon, Cindy, Jenna, and I tried to get more paint on the walls than on ourselves. Kid-wise, we are almost done weighing and measuring all the kids. This will give us a good baseline in the future to assess their nutrition and health. They like the digital scale and dont quite understand why we want to know how tall they are. We are teaching them to take a vitamin everyday and have brought enough to last until the next team comes in January.

They are starting to realize that I (Kelli) am the nurse and today started bringing me their friends who needed a bandage or didnt feel good. Several have infected sores but so far nothing too serious as far as I can tell.

We also distributed the shoes and clothes that we brought for the children after their lunch...those who didn't have shoes were fitted for shoes first, then all the kids chose clothing items (shirts, shorts, skirts, dresses for church, etc). This took quite awhile to try to fit everyone, especially with the language barrier and only 1 available interpreter.

It has become a daily ritual for singing a few songs in Creole and English with the children and play-time is always a highlight! The kids love popping bubbles with Kelli, dancing and throwing the football with Brett, playing soccer and taking her camera and loving on Jenna, jumping rope with Cindy, watching in awe as the men worked on the shower, following Pastor Scott around, and listening to Jon play guitar and watching the videos on his camera.

A great experience has been getting to know our Haitian interpreter, Samuel. God has blessed us with the perfect man for the job as we need him for nearly everything. He lives 2 houses down from Pastor Lewis' house, drives with us to and from the orphanage, and eats dinner with us every night. He is definitely a part of our team, and a vital part at that.

Our team (plus Samuel) has bonded during the trip, uniting us to serve each other and serve God's purpose for us. God is teaching us many lessons to share with our LCF family and providing us many chances to experience His love and joy. It is so clear, especially here, that He is our only hope. Continue to pray for our team and the orphans that we will see Jesus' love and accomplish our mission here.

Love, Kelli Carr and Jenna Turner