Kids for Kids

It’s the night before we’re leaving and it’s my turn to blog.  At this point, I really miss my children and my husband.   I’m feeling a bit guilty because a lot of my fellow missionaries don’t want to leave, but, as much as I have loved the Haitian people and my time here, I really can’t wait to see Lucas and Luisa and Joaquin!!  In this trip, God has truly used my gifts for His glory.  My somewhat annoying optimism have come in handy. In many occasions, I have used my hands to lift, to clean, to sweep, to rake, to pull weeds, to hug, and to shake hands; I have used my voice to praise God in word through devotions and song.  But, teaching 3 days for 2.5 hours (minimum) to 35 students have been the best use of my gifts.  I love teaching. I never get tired of it, and I’m so grateful to God that He gave me this opportunity to use what I love to serve Him here in Haiti.  I taught with Jess, and her professionalism made everything very smooth for me.  Our students know their grammar, were eager to learn, and were a great pleasure to teach.  The best thing of all was at the end of the class.  One of the students stood up on behalf of the class to tell us how grateful they were of our teaching.  His name is John and he said, “I’m sorry we can’t give you nothing but we can pray for you and we will pray for you and your family, all of us will pray for you.”  What better gift can we ask for?  Then they all stood up and Ivanne prayed in English for us.  Their reverence to the Lord is exemplary.  Their genuine love for us was moving.  We got hugs and kisses and many “I love you” and many more “God bless you,” in English.  I can’t say that in Creole.  I’ve been very humbled by how devoted they are and how joyful they are, all the time.  Today, we had the chance to visit the Christian University of North Haiti.  We met the President, Dr. Jules Casseus and his wife.  He has been President since 1981, and he changed the institution from a seminary into a university.  This fine institution needs funds, they are doing great things for the people of Haiti.  “The hope for Haiti is education,” says Pastor Voltaire.  We need to support this institution on their efforts to educate.  We also met with a wonderful woman, Kihomi, Dr. Nzunga Mabudiga’s wife.  She welcomed us into her home in campus.  We met Nzunga, a couple of days ago. He teaches at the university, and they are both missionaries here in Haiti.  They are originally from Congo.  Their stories are amazing and what they do is so impressive.  Kihomi, today shared with us the work that she does educating women about hygiene so that they can prevent cholera.  She told us with almost tears in her eyes, about the passing of a friend’s father of cholera.  He never told anyone that he’s been having diarrhea until it was too late, because he was ashamed to say it.  The family found out he was very ill at 10pm at night and they live in such a remote area that by the time they got to help at 3am, the man was gone.  She told us that in that village they have 25 latrines for 250 people.  They need more latrines and better ways to keep them clean so that the flies don’t transport the disease to houses that are clean.  Her job is to educate and empower the women and she needs our support and we can give it to her if we go to www.internationalministries.org and find her projects.  She also talked to us about the Kids for Kids program and how the goats can help send a child to school when a family sells it or it can provide food with its meat.  At the end of our visit, she had a gift for the pastor of our group.  Well, we don’t have a specific pastor of our group, so the group decided that I should get the gift because I connected them with her. Three of our churches, raised $700.00 for goats in the Kids of Kids Project. It was a great honor to receive her gift and I will always cherish it!  Finally, I would like to say that the most meaningful time that I spent was with my fellow missionary brothers and sisters.  We laughed together, cried together, endured sickness, and witnessed healing.  The fellowship of believers is an amazing thing and I pray that wherever we go from here, we can remember that God wants us to help each other, encourage each other, and experience Him through service.  I’m grateful to God for this country full of people who love Him, people who are peaceful, who have patience, who have a smile on their face, ready to be given, who are working, and prevailing.  God bless Haiti and reign forever! Amen.

Dolly