Today was a great day- a challenging day but a great day of discovering God's adventure for us. This morning we made the trek to Desire to be with our kids. In addition to the 60 orphan children we had well over 100 kids from the community join us at the Desire project. As we made our way down the narrow road for 3 miles of challenging obstacles for any driver but our driver Bertrand- we pulled up to the project and were greeted by the kids jumping up and down cheering as we pulled into the gate! There really is no way to describe the scene- you just have to experience it.
Many of the kids remembered team members from previous trips and many new friends were made on this day. As we packed out the small building with 160 kids and our team, we sang to one another- first in Creole and then in English. The story of God's creation was told by our story team with the kids interacting with the seven days of creation- all with the hope and promise of Jesus Christ's love for us.
We concluded our morning with games of soccer, nail painting, dancing and just hanging out. We said goodbye with the intention of returning later in the afternoon.
That is when Bertrand met a challenge that got the best of him... part of our journey to Desire requires crossing a river- there is no bridge so we have to ford the river by driving across it. The river beat us this time- we got stuck in it and the bus could not get out. With every attempt we made the bus seemed to sink into the loose rock and scree.
We became quite the spectacle for the locals as we tries to push and maneuver with no success. Some men from the surrounding area began to pitch in to free the bus. A Catholic missionary vehicle tried to pull us although the driver didn't realize he didn't have his front hubs locked.
As the time and daylight started to slip away, the team by now was beginning to interact with the people from the community while we were waiting for a big truck to come pull us out. Finally the truck arrived and backed up to the bus- on the first attempt the rope snapped in half. As the truck backed even closer to the bus, a second attempt was made but this time they doubled up the rope. In a furious 20 seconds that followed, the bus became free of the river that stumped Bertrand- who I believe is the best driver in Haiti- and maybe the world.
As darkness settled in, we were unable to make it to Desire to see the kids again and we headed back to the hotel for our waiting dinner. So as I reflect back on the events of the day, I ask the Lord- what was your mission for us this afternoon? We had a chance to meet and interact with people from the Desire community that we otherwise would not have met. And as we shared why we were a bunch of Americans in this remote area of Haiti- we were able to share that we are here to share the love of Jesus Christ with not only the orphans we partner with but also the community that Pastor Jeannot minsters to.
God had planned an adventure for us on this day- I can't wait to see what He has in store for tomorrow!
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