Haiti - Day 5

Day 5 - No doubt the most difficult day so far.  Simply because of the emotions of the day.  As I mentioned before, today was our last day at the orphanage, and we all knew that it would be difficult.  Just how difficult, I don't know if any of us fully understood.  Even those who have come before; how can one pretend to know "exactly" how it is going to feel?  To wrap your arms around one of God's precious little children as they are crying because you are leaving them,  knowing that you may never see this child which you have fallen in love with again is truly heartbreaking.  The face of children like Nelsize will be burned into my brain forever, and the desire to speed up our own adoption of Sophia is even more urgent.  To know that my daughter is somewhere in a place like this, hoping for someone to take her home, hoping for someone to finally say "YES - you can come home with us" .... that thought is chilling.

Today was spent playing more games, doing more crafts, singing more songs, and giving more hugs out to the children.  Our construction team finished sealing up the main wall of the orphanage to prevent water from leaking into the yard.  They have worked on this for a couple of days primarily for sanitation.  Understand that where the orphanage is located, water frequently floods into the courtyard, bringing sewage, garbage, and diseases into the orphan yard.  With the job done by our men this will hopefully no longer be a problem. 

You may have noticed that my blog from Haiti has primarily been a reporting of facts and not much reflection or Biblical inspiration.  There is a reason for that.  The problems here are overwhelming and require much reflection on my behalf.  The sadness, destruction, and poverty here are truly unimaginable.  No commercial or news broadcast can fully capture what is taking place here, and for me to come here for just a few days and blog about all the answers would be ludicrous and arrogant on my part.  Despite all the sorrow here, Christ is at work in this nation as well, and He has spoken to me a lot over the last few days about my calling, and about my mission.  Again, for me to just jump right out and speak of that would be uncalled for because there is much more prayer and thought that must be placed.  I will say this to those who may worry, I am not moving down here as a missionary, and I am coming back to the States.  However, for me and my church to neglect this nation would be a sin. 

As long as there are precious children like Nelsize in orphanages crying out for someone to call Mama and Papa, our mission is incomplete.  As long as there are children digging through garbage cans for food and things to collect, our mission is incomplete.  As long as children are longing to be loved our mission is incomplete.  "Father break my heart for what breaks yours" must be our cry, not just a song.