Jen's Blog- Wednesday, July 26, 2017

          I can’t even begin to describe to you the feelings that I get each time I set my feet in Haiti.  Even though I have been here 6 times now, it is such a surreal feeling to be back in Haiti.  I have many favorite things when I come to Haiti, but I absolutely love walking into the church each morning.  It feels like my second home.  Our team is greeted, hugged, kissed & loved on by the kids & the volunteers there.  We are truly welcomed with open arms.  (Literally!)  It has been great to watch this team teach the main lessons & then reinforce the lesson in small groups.  They have all done a great job with the crafts & the songs too.   We definitely cannot dance quite like the Haitian volunteers, but we are trying!  Being back here for the Bible School over the past few years, I have loved the relationships that I have been able to make with the kids.  It is amazing the impact you can have on a child just by knowing their name.  Today I received a drawing from a child & it is one that I will treasure for a long time.  If there is anything that I take away from the Haitian people, it is their generosity & how well they love people.
        The team is doing well & I have learned some things about each of them.

Dave:  He leaves things everywhere & can’t find anything.
Melanie: She has to color coordinate everything.  She is quite upset that her sandals do not match her outfits.  (Ok, I already knew this about Melanie!)  Crystal’s coordinator is just the same way, so Melanie & Johny get along quite well.
Ken: He drops everything!  His fork, his pencil, his water bottle, you name it, it ends up on the floor.
Dakota: She loves pink & there are no more pink index cards left to write encouragement notes, so she is blaming Dan.
Tim:  He has a hard time filling his water bottle.  The first day here in Haiti, it overflowed all over the floor.
Dan & Bryce:  These two are actually going to go together.  They laugh all the time & only stop talking when they go to sleep.  Nadege who lives here with Crystal is constantly telling them , “silans.”  (In other words, “silent!” (Don’t worry, she’s teasing!)
Ethan:  This boy does not stop singing.  The amount of old songs that he knows is crazy.  He is currently sitting next to me & has been singing just about the entire time I have been blogging.  I am also his favorite C3 leader too!
Kelly:  She is the quiet one, but I already knew that.  However, she is not afraid to put the boys in their place!
Faith:  Faith is another quiet one on the team, but her & Kelly work well together by keeping the boys in line.  They need it!
Vanessa:  She is a picky eater, but has done really well eating the Haitian food here.  If her family is reading this, I think you would be impressed!
Noel:  She is the creative one & actually gave Crystal a haircut the other day.  She even brought her string & the girls at the orphanage loved making bracelets with her.

        All this to say, we are having a fantastic time in Haiti!  The team has been awesome & God has been working on each of our hearts.  I have been so impressed with how they have just kept going, even in the heat.  Thank you parents for entrusting us with your student!  I am so thankful to be here with them & to hear all that God is teaching them.  We are bringing back some great stories & memories & we cannot wait to share them all with you!  See you soon!  Much love from Haiti!

-Jen