Haiti 2012

I feel that I owe an apology to all of my patient relatives who have been anxiously awaiting this post.  Sorry guys . . . I know this is long over due.  

For those who don't know, (or haven't read my previous posts :) Dad took Caelen to Haiti on missions work for her "senior trip".  

Caelen will even admit that she wasn't really looking forward to going, but in the end, it turned out to be the best thing possible.  Now she is scrimping and saving up to go again.  Doing missions work can do that to you I guess :)

Caelen and Dad flew out of TN on the sixth of July (a Friday) and arrived back home on Saturday . . . just in time to eat homemade ice cream for Nate bud's birthday.  

As soon as they stepped out of the car back in Marion NC, they were absolutely bombarded and interrogated until we got the whole story out of them:  

In a brief . . . {very brief} . . . this is what they said:

After stepping off of the (tiny and very rickety) blue plane into the town of Jeremy, their team was pounced on by a whole bunch of Haitian people trying to sell their goods and be paid for helping them out with their luggage.  If your luggage was handled at all by one of these people, you had to pay them for their services.

Once they had finished all of the airport rigmarole, the team headed down the house where they were going to be staying all week . . . it was pretty nice from what I saw of the pictures.  :)

While they were in Haiti, the team did a whole lot of Vacation Bible School for the local kids and for one of the orphanages in Jeremy.  A really neat opportunity!  Caelen said that they watched "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" with the kids one night, and they all cheered and clapped whenever Aslan came onto the screen.  That is how they feel about God.

Dad was explaining that as soon as they arrived at the orphanage, each team member was "adopted" by the kids there.  Caelen had a posse of 6 kids following her around everywhere.  Jessica (age 12), Rosetania (12), Loveson (10), Josephe (10), Shilanchi (7), Elsia (5).

Dad had 4 kids in his posse: Island (13), Makeson (11), Edno (8), Sonson (7).
Apparently, most of them were very sweet and loving kids.  


Apart from some "Haitian Sensation" (a sickness that involves nausea, fever, fatigue, headache...and the like)
nobody got too sick, although you had to be extremely cautious about the water there.  You had to keep your eyes and mouth tightly shut during showers and couldn't even use the water for brushing your teeth.  


Here is a slideshow of some of the pictures that Caelen took while they were there. 

Sometimes I think that we can forget about the different countries that are in need, both physically and spiritually.  Sometimes we get so caught up in our own comfort, our own difficulties, and our own lives, that we forget to pray for those who don't even have half of what we have.  Sometimes, I think that we take a whole lot of things too much for granted . . . . Fresh water, clean homes, loving families, enough food to eat . . . you name it!
America needs to become more grateful.  I need to become more grateful.

Continue to keep Haiti in your prayers.