Our First Full Day in Haiti - Emily Sensenig (aka Shorty)

Wow! Where can I even start?! Our first full day here in Haiti has been absolutely amazing! We started off our day with a simple breakfast and quiet time to do our devotions. We then got ready for church and headed out on our tiny little bus. We have to sit 2 people to every seat, and then we actually have little benches that we sit in the isles, between the bus seats and sit 2 people on every one of those too. Needless to say, it's a little cramped. But that's okay, this is Haiti! Our ride to church took about twenty minutes to a half an hour. When we got to the church, we were met and ushered in by our translators. (Who are absolutely amazing, by the way!) The church building isn't really a building, it's a pavilion with a roof made of tarp. They have a stage up at the front and all of the pillars were decorated with palm branches. We sat down in about in the middle of the congregation and right away things got started. Everyone stood up and immediately started singing praise songs. And when I say praise songs, I really do mean praise songs! Everyone was standing up, raising and waving their arms, dancing and just having an absolutely wonderful time praising God for all that He does and who He is. I can honestly say I have never seen a group of people so pumped up and excited to praise our God. It was amazing. At one point the singing and just the spirit of the people actually moved me to tears. It was amazing. After the praise was over, we moved into a special service that they had planned for the day. They were looking back on the "old Haiti" and celebrating how far they have already come. They danced and had skits and games to represent many different aspects of what life would have been like in the "old Haiti." But the biggest point that they made out of all of that was that they really and truly do desire to give their country over to God and have Him work in it and change it.
After church we went out and looked over the ocean for a few minutes (because the church is right at the shore line) We then loaded back up on the bus and headed back to base camp. We enjoyed a lunch of peanut butter and jelly and also some Pringles. We then got our things together and hopped back on the bus to go to the girls orphanage up on the mountain. That bus ride took about half an hour. We got there and got off the bus and waited for the pastor who runs the orphanage to come meet us. In the mean time, we stood around and began to learn some of the girls names. They were all so sweet. Many of them would walk right up to you and just take your hand and not let go. Others were extremely shy and it took a little bit for them to get used to us and come out of their shells. But they all eventually did and we began kicking a soccer ball around with them. After a little bit we began our VBS. We started it off by singing a few songs with them like Amazing Grace, Jesus Loves Me, This Little Light of Mine and a few others. After that we had our skit that illustrated our theme for the day which was "Because Jesus loves us, He accepts us no matter what." We then had our lesson with them and they all listened very well and seemed to enjoy it. After that we split into two groups and made bracelets with about half of them and played games with the other half. That took us up to the end of our time for VBS and we had to head out. For me, the time just flew by and when they told me that it was time to go, I didn't want to leave yet! Many of the girls gave us hugs before we left and we told them that we'd be back tomorrow. I for one, can't wait to go back! We loaded back on the bus and now we're back at base camp. We had a delicious dinner prepared by our wonderful cooks and had some down time.
Now we're about to have our final debrief meeting, so I must say goodbye. Thank you all for following the blog and keeping us in your prayers. God bless!