Day 6 in Haiti - Leaving Our New Friends

It is way past my bed time. These crazy church people have really been pushing the limits on the proper eight hours and fifteen minutes of rest that was basically the first thing that happened to be important in Genesis- just putting that out there. Today was Saturday, which in the world of running, where I spend most of my time, means the hard day where you pour out every ounce you have left. Saturdays are big tipping temporal points in which anything can happen. I really feel that as a team we showed the last of our hard work and preparation that got us here. 

This morning we woke up to the sound of children playing outside on the streets. This is different than it has been from most of the week because they do not get out of  school until the middle of June. Breakfast was a different type of cereal that turns your milk a very unsettling pink. The milk that was left looked like something you would see in an elementary school cafeteria. Since we already finished the mural, we didn't have much to do in the morning. Lauren and Kalyn planned out their testimonies to tell the youth group at Source de la Grace about metaphorical rebirth. The beautiful and talented Anjian choreographed her own dance that was absolutely amazing. The coolest part was watching her come up with it from scratch (with a little song help from Lindsay, of course). It was amazing to see the beauty of God in her grace filled expression of love.

PG arrived mid morning with his art. It was also stinking amazing and creative. He had fabulous stone carvings as well as paintings. Unfortunately, he did not have any wooden machetes like I purchased the day before at the beach which I honestly felt everyone was very jealous of.

Sandro arrived after lunch and we went to the orphanage. It was a lot more chaotic than it had been. Banllee, the munchkin I had been spending most of my time with immediately embraced me. You could feel the anticipation; the kids as well as us wanted to juice out every possible second we could have. There was once again a dance party on the front porch. It was really great to see the joy of the house mamas when they were watching. They were filled with just as much excitement as the kids. 

Leaving was rough. As the kids started to realize what was happening, most of them started crying, which made most of our team cry. Banllee was in complete denial. She started playing soccer with me as soon as Liz announced that we were leaving. It was so hard to see them and wonder how many times they had been left. I just pray that the joy of us being there outweighs any of the pain suffered by us leaving.

We went to go hang out with Kristie's youth group after that. We played jump rope with a real rope- very new and very difficult. It was strange to jump into so much joy after seeing so much hurt. The service was beautiful. Lauren and Kalyn were fantastic. The older kids were still emotional, but a lot more hopeful. They hugged everyone and asked for their Facebook. They were so sweet. I think leaving the Vavals and the translators tomorrow will be the hardest part. 

During our devotional this evening we talked about what we wanted to take from Haiti and what we wanted to leave behind. While I'm sad to leave this beautiful and wonderful country, I'm excited to apply the things I have learned and let the Lord work through me at home. 

Ironically, with the theme of rebirth, Delany Jane Borden joined this world yesterday (Friday)! 

-Mac