New Shoes Say Something

Love Nerlande's spirit

So four Americans travel to Haiti, three of them for seven days.  The other one will stay 365 days.  One, who we meet at the airport, has been working with the children for eight months.  He will be leaving in three weeks.  And somewhere along the way, we all ask ourselves--are we doing some good? Does what we offer make an impact?


Heart of God Haiti (as with many ministries) is only a proverbial blip on the radar. We aren't able to help the masses. We help one small community made up of 15 orphans, a few local staff members, a local church and various neighborhood children and their families. Soon we'll be helping the local school.  

In the big scheme of worldly things, we are nothing. But our God is the God of the one--not the 99.  The story of how Dave Young came to this orphanage three years ago--shortly after the earthquake--is one of those intricate stories that reads like fiction. Suffice it to say that he was following grid coordinates someone had given him--he had little idea where they would lead.  At those grid coordinates, a pastor was praying for a miracle for his orphanage: the cupboard was down to a coffee can of rice and beans; the staff hadn't been paid in months. 

Benches are coming soon!

Up rolls Dave Young. Not only does he put food on the tables, but he provides the tables themselves.  He joins Scott Ingram and Jan Ross (President of Heart of God International Ministries), becoming the director of HGIM Haiti. How this happens is also intricate--people know people, way leads to way. No one builds a plot like God.

A new gas grill

Making rice and beans

 

Dave hands out new blankets, shoes, and socks.

Dave gets his soccer game on!

Scott's been with them for eight months--it shows!

Erin, the new teacher!!!

Jan enjoys some time with Jude.

Besides providing physical nourishment, HGIM provides for their spiritual well-being.  Here kids hold incredible pictures of themselves that my friend, Lori Crace created.  They show the children that they are "the light of the world." They couldn't stop looking at themselves. What a gift! They were also given children's Bibles in Creole--you should have seen them hanging on to their treasures! 

This week the kids also learned songs (these kids can sing!) and made crafts.

There were plenty of smiles!

And quiet time to mull everything over

Again I ask:  is HGIM--which includes everyone who has prayed, donated Bibles, money, class materials, pictures, clay bears, shoes, socks, and blankets--making a difference? Do the kids appreciate what they've been given? I could post videos of them singing how much God loves them--they know He does. They pray for others and give thanks to Jesus. They've said "Thank You" in dozens of ways--including this picture. 

But sometimes actions speak louder than words.

When we gave the children their "new" shoes, I thought they would want to wear them immediately--um...I've been known to do that...but they didn't. The next day when I saw them, they were still wearing their old shoes. I thought maybe the new ones didn't fit right.  I wasn't even sure where they were--the kids have a way of squirreling their possessions out of sight. Then on Monday, we visited the school and I understood. If you look at the next picture, you will, too.

They had saved their new shoes for the first day of school.

Later I came across Nerlande (also known as she who tortured my scalp by "fixing" my hair). It showed me without a doubt that at least one (if not all) feel gratitude for what has been given. How do we show gratitude? One way is by taking care of the things given to us. I found her outside with two large cans washing her new shoes and socks.

 

Then later still, she hung her socks on a thin rope she'd strung between her bunk and the one next to hers. She values the gifts that are coming her way. You can see that with most of the children--the way they clutch their new Bibles, or keep their new blankets and pictures, or in the way they take off their school uniforms, shake them out, and carefully fold them. 

We may not be changing the world, but we are touching these lives. We are the hands and feet of our Father who art in heaven--the One who cares about the individual. 

And no matter how much I give, He gives me ten-thousand fold more. And I am grateful.

On another note, Ezekiel could use prayer as he awaits a blood transfusion--which in Haiti is an ordeal. To read Scott's moving account of what Ezekiel is going through, please go HERE.

Still to come--the incredible Erin, and pictures of Haitian life in general.

All in Goodwill,

~Lisa