Florkencia was the girl that "chose" me on day one. She was the one who didn't smile much - she was quiet and hard to read, but each day we sought each other out. I called her by name and smiled at her. I wanted her to know that I had "chosen" her too. On the last day at the orphanage, I hadn't seen her around too much, a few moments here and there. She was taking care of the 2 yr. old baby girl that had come from Port au Prince. The older girls were "assigned" one of the babies each day, so she was busy. I took a picture of her that makes me smile - it was the first real smile I had seen directed toward me - unprompted. I had gotten her to smile a little during the week, but in this one, she looks beautiful and happy. It captures her cautious way, but shows something special there.
It was a busy day - a "tying things up" kind of day and we all knew it. The kids seemed somewhat moody and unsettled, but also, incredibly loving and tender.
Then rain began to fall - swift and heavy. We all ran under the metal roof that covered the area where the kids ate and watched as the yard, where we played basketball and soccer, filled with water. Jen Hudnall took out some finger nail polish and we painted their nails for awhile - then they started to paint ours. It was very touching - Peter, one of the older boys, painted mine and it was so tenderly done, that it brought tears to my eyes. As I looked around the porch, I could see that all of the "blancs" were humbled and moved by the kids, once again, turning something that we wanted to do for them, into something they did for us.
Gene, Mark, and Marvin were finishing up water filtration systems and bunk beds and then several of us went to see the lady who had the five children (and one on the way) to say good bye.
She was so grateful for all that had been done on her behalf. It was a fitting finish to what would soon be the end of our day and our time at the orphanage.
We were all sad at the thought of leaving because the kids were sad. I took this picture of Peter - an amazing young man, and it captures how we all felt.
Haiti feels hard, it can feel hopeless, but . . . . . . it has wonderful children of God there. It has children that have been purposed by Him. We can't see how it will all work out, but God has given us something to see there - something He wanted to share, first to us and now to you. I will write more about that soon and about other things I have seen there, but I want to leave this post with a picture of a young man staying at Yvrose's - an orphan boy who's name I can't remember. I affectionately call him "photo me" because he said that all of the time. :) He constantly asked to have his photo taken. I love what I see in this picture of him (as he did to when I showed him). For me, the picture represents some of the hope of Haiti - something bright and shiny in what can appear a dark place. I also want to say that I will finish the story of Florkencia in my next post, but I am too broken up write now to do so. 
It was a beautiful day - after breakfast and devotions, we headed out to Yvrose's farm. It was a sun-filled, vivid ride, passing a large river, bouncing along the roads and seeing small dwellings with faded paint. We drove past women carrying large baskets on their heads, children carrying water in plastic containers, people washing their clothes on the banks of a river. Everything looked lush and green except the dusty, pothole filled roads. Yvrose sang songs on the way and we looked out the window trying to remember what we were seeing. When we arrived at the farm, we saw 8 acres of beautiful property: coconut, banana, mango, bread fruit trees, sugar cane, coffee trees, and a cement pond that is used to raise tilapia. We also saw a possible future for a new orphanage to be built on that land. Perhaps one day . . . 
We walked around the grounds and then Yvrose took us a short distance to see the fields where they are to grow corn. The corn is on a container, on a ship in Port au Prince - it has been there since December. One of the ongoing prayers we have had, and continue to have, is that the last signature needed to free up this container will happen. The man who doesn't want to sign is hoping to get a bribe - it is one of the hard things about Haiti - ongoing corruption, corruption that hurts its own people.After we left the farm, we headed to the orphanage to hang out with the kids. It was a sweet day, but the kids knew we would be leaving soon - they were clinging to us and wanting to be held. We were only able to stay a couple of hours because the kids had a special program that they would be putting on for us that evening and we had to give them some time to prepare.
We went back to the compound and ate a delicious cabbage soup and headed back to Yvrose's for the closing program. When we arrived, Florkencia took me by the hand and led me to a special chair that she picked. All of the kids did that - we felt so honored to be seated by our special friends. It was getting dark outside and all of the kids lined up in rows and began to sing to us. Listen to the audio below of their singing. After they sang, and we cried, several of the older kids came out and played instruments. Yvrose had taught them how to play. It was precious.
After the program, we loaded up into our vehicles and the kids ran to the gate and cried as we pulled away. We did too.
*although you can't see the children, just listen to them sing*
Our team was split into two teams on this morning. The nurses, and those studying to be nurses, went off to a medical facility called HHF. They were to help Moms and their babies with wellness check ups - the rest of us went shopping for bread, rice, and, as it turns out, machetes. It was fun to see more of Jeremie, though we could not do the shopping ourselves. We watched from the car as Adrian (Yvrose's husband) negotiated all purchases. (Blanc's get charged much more than Haitians.)
After we finished shopping, we went to Yvrose's to deliver 50 lbs. of rice to a Mother of five, soon to be Mother of six, who was staying in a tiny room on Yvrose's property. This woman's husband had been murdered because someone thought he had brought cholera to them. It was a very sad situation and our team, prompted by Debbie, did several wonderful and helpful things for her and her family. (The two men on our team, Randy and Marvin, built 2 sets of bunk beds for them, we gave her a suitcase full of clothing and supplies that she would be able to use, as well as the small fee of $10 that it would cost for her to go to hospital to have the baby) **update: we found out that she had a baby boy, named Joshua, on Tuesday - all went well**
Later, we went to prepare lunch for the kids at Yvrose's. We were going to have a special peanut butter sandwich lunch with them. We had the fresh bread that we picked up in Jeremie and we added the peanut butter to make filling sandwiches - the kids loved them. (now we knew why they wanted us to bring peanut butter in our suitcases) They all had their fill and some even ate two. It was a simple, sweet and happy time for all of us.
After lunch, the nurses on our team went to a hospital called Mother Theresa's while the rest of us went to a rural Church for service. The service was amazing, the people were lovely, we all sang together in our two different languages and Pastor Thomas, who had preached at the Airport church, sang a beautiful song for the offertory. Pastor Randy preached and Yvrose translated for him - it was an amazing sermon and the people were very responsive. All in all, it was a stunningly beautiful service in the most humble place I have ever had the privilege to worship in and one of the biggest highlights and spiritual moments of the trip.
Meanwhile, the girls that had gone to Mother Theresa's were dealing with, perhaps, the most tragic and disturbing time they have had to date. When we all met back at the compound that night, none of them could speak. When they finally started to speak they were completely broken, crying and intensely disturbed. The picture that was described was that of a room in which many starving babies, barely clinging to life, lay. Parents, perhaps that live in extreme rural conditions, or did not have a good understanding of how to take care of their children, or didn't have any food, had brought their babies here as a last effort to save them - for many, it would be too late. The precious women on our team had became nurses for the right reasons and it was very difficult for them to feel that they could offer no comfort or help to these children. For whatever reason, the Lord chose them to see "the least of these" - I know they won't waste it.
Here is a video from worship at the little rural church:
We started our day with Haitian oatmeal, spicy peanut butter, papaya, scones and delicious sugar cane coffee. Our team had been briefed that we would be going to Darlene's orphanage first - not as established as Yvrose's and conditions were not ideal for the children. We arrived in front of a dented metal gate that was the entrance to Darlene's and went in - it was obvious that they had been waiting for us because all of the children were lined up and immediately began to sing for us. They sang 3 songs in perfect English and one in Creole as well - it was very moving, very sweet. I remember one of the lyrics was something like "thank you for coming - you are welcome in our home" - very hard not to cry at the beauty of it. They must have practiced a lot on those songs and we were honored to hear them.
It struck me that the children looked different - they didn't smile or move much. They made intense eye contact and though we were smiling at them, very few of them smiled back. They were hungry and many were not feeling well. One of our team members, Jen, noticed a boy laying on the cement by himself - after she looked at him and touched him, she realized he was very sick. He would later go to hospital after other team members, Miriam and Katelyn, went back to Yvrose's to get $10 and medical supplies.
There were others that were not much better but, they all seemed to revive a bit when we started passing out toys. Each child received something to play with and a hygiene kit. They loved balloons and enjoyed some coloring with new crayons and coloring books.
The children in Darlene's orphanage eat one meal a day. The picture below shows the lady who was preparing there food in this outdoor kitchen. I could not tell what the food was, but it was likely a starch with some corn mixed in.
After we said our goodbyes, we headed back to Yvrose's where Debbie, Jen and I had some basketball lessons with Peter. Peter was adamant that we hold the ball correctly and he was right - As soon as I held the ball the way he instructed, I got a goal. 
In the late afternoon, another missionary team was at the church on Yvrose's property, so we all attended a VBS service with the kids. We all sang and had a great time, but the kids of the orphanage still clung on to us and didn't really mix into the group of neighborhood kids. When we were leaving for the night a few of the kids ran to the gate to say goodbye - a couple of them were crying.
After a wonderful breakfast of crepe-like pancakes with apples and syrup, we went to Yvrose's orphanage. Earlier that morning, we had organized several suitcases filled with school supplies, toys, protein bars and medical supplies to take (and leave) with us. We arrived at the orphanage and my dear friend Debbie and I walked over to the school to make a special delivery.
The school is on Yvrose's property and consists of 3 cement- blocked and stuccoed rooms. The orphans can attend the school up until about 6th grade and then they go to another outside of the orphanage. The teacher in this photo has been teaching for 25 years. 
He was appreciative to get the supplies and proceeded to lock them up immediately. 
The children all over Haiti dress in school uniforms and they look beautiful and bright in them. After visiting the school, we went back to play with the other kids at the orphanage. We colored a lot, drew on the cement with chalk and just hung out with them.
At some point in that day, Yvrose took the time to explain that she didn't want the children in her place to be adopted. She wanted to raise them to be successful, Christian people would stay in Haiti and help Haiti to be a better place. She is a visionary woman wanting her children to spread the gospel.
We then went out to visit two church plants. The first was called "St. Charles". It had roof problems and one of our teams had been there the previous week to help add support to it.
The second church is called "The River Church". These churches are both getting some support and are slowly improving. We prayed over them and headed out. On our way back to the compound (where we were being housed), we stopped for a few minutes at the beach, looked at a ship wreck and studied the rocks. No sand on these beaches, just rocks - rounded and smoothed by the waves. It is a beautiful and rugged coastline and many ships are lost here. It is a vivid picture of how this country feels beautiful, rugged and somewhat lost.
We were all sad at the thought of leaving because the kids were sad. I took this picture of Peter - an amazing young man, and it captures how we all felt.
