Day 3

Bonswa friends in Liberty!

It's Joelle from Haiti. :) It has been such a lovely day here. Today marked the one year anniversary of the devastating earthquake. I had wondered what today would be like, and was so humbled by what I experienced. Today the kids were out of school because of the anniversary, and were sat down to remember what happened. Many in our orphanage in St. Louis du Sud did not lose family from the earthquake, but all remembered the tragic day and were most likely affected in some way by it. Yet, their response as they remembered was so amazing: they responded in worship to our God! As the pastor, and our translators spoke on all the devastation that happened, they did not remain on the topic of sadness, instead they quickly proclaimed God's wonderful truths: 1.That it is only by the grace of God that they are alive today, therefore God must have big purposes for their lives! 2. They gave a reminder to not worry, and surrender all to Jesus 3. And they talked about even if devastation or tragedy happens, it is all for the glory of God. After their talks, we just worshiped, it was simply beautiful. I sat by an orphan named Roseline as we sang, and it was so cute she grabbed my hands and lifted them up like hers to make sure I too was worshiping :). They know how to worship their God there! I was so humbled to think of my "trials" here in the USA. They are so small, and yet I can get so caught up in them, get discouraged, and quickly forget God's powerful truths. I want to become more like these people who today talked about one of the greatest tragedies I've ever heard of, and yet they responded in worship! And not just downcast worship, they sang at the top of their lungs, clapping and lifting their hands, and closing their eyes, looking up and smiling in joy. The joy of the Lord is truly their strength!

There were two boys in the orphanage that were transfered from Port au Prince and had lost parents in the earthquake. One of them is named Mardoche, and he's very new to the orphange. I'm guessing he's about three years old, and his face looked so sad today, there were several tears. I tried to hang around him and love on him as much as I could, but if you all could be praying for him and the other little boy, that would be wonderful, for I know only God can fully give them the comfort they need. I can't imagine being three years old and losing my family.

Today we also received our luggage!! So we were very happy to have all of our belongings! We were able to give the kids snacks, color with them, blow bubbles, and begin treating them medically. It was nice to have the kids out of school and just play with them all day! They really are some of the most precious kids in the world, their giggles, smiles, and hugs could brighten anyones day. It is amazing how you come to love on them and really they continually are loving on you!

Tonight after dinner mom and I got to talk to our translator Samuel for awhile, and he has an amazing story! After the earthquake last year he led continual worship and prayer with people for about two weeks straight! After that, he got very sick and came very close to dying, but still remained having so much faith in the Lord even when all obstacles were against him. He told us of how God was faithful and saved his life!! Not only that but provided for him every step of the way. The people in Haiti have such great faith, and I believe that Jesus is truly all they want and all they need. I believe because of this the Holy Spirit moves so much here. I pray that we can become more like this in the USA, that we would stop being so consumed with everything in this world and TRULY be COMPLETELY SURRENDERED to Jesus, that Jesus would be all we want!!

Speaking of Jesus being all we want, I got to learn the song Give Me Jesus in Creole tonight! I believe the words in this song truly describe the heart of the people in Haiti. :

Le matin lem leve, Ban mwen jezi.
In the morning when I rise, give me Jesus.

Le mwen sel pou kont mwen, Ban mwen jezi.
When i am alone, give me Jesus.

Le lavi mwen va fini, Ban mwen jezi.
When I come to die, give me Jesus.

Ban mwen jezi, ou met pran tout bagay
Give me Jesus, you can have all in this world,
Ban mwen jezi
but just give me JESUS.

This is already one of my favorite songs, but now even means so much more thinking of the people in Haiti singing this, for they can sing this song TRULY meaning every word.
Wow, I've really made this blog long! One last thing though, a funny story of the day: I was talking with the orphans and was talking about how cold it was at home, and how happy I was to be there with them in Haiti where it was warm! A young Haitian man was translating for me and then he interrupted and said if you love it so much here, you should marry a Haitian man so that you can be here all the time! Then he told me just pray, and then maybe God will give you that. haha, I was defintiely laughing inside :)
Well I think that's finally all for today, auvoir!!
God bless,
Joelle