Break my heart for what breaks Yours

 Sunday, we all loaded up and went to church!  I was pretty excited about going to a service in Creole and the entire experience in general, and let me just tell you, no matter if you can understand the words of a song or know what is being said, you can still feel God in a place.  A member of the congregation did translate after a group of ten white people walked into the building, so that was nice.  It is amazing to know that a lot of the people I saw that day have very little, but they still dress to the nines for church.  Girls wear skirts to their knees or longer and every one has sleeves, mostly to their elbows or longer, guys have dress pants and long-sleeve button ups, and everyone looks snazzy.  Many people keep their Sunday best in a bag in their home so that their best clothes stay clean and presentable for worship.  No one is competing or showing off, they dress up out of genuine respect for their God.

Afterward, our group went out for Sunday lunch and got ICE CREAM!  Before picking up a team from the airport.  This group of eight adults is from South Carolina and are here to assemble bunk beds for the orphanage.  Later, some of us loaded up and went to the Apparent Project, a business run by an American lady who has local artisans make jewelry and things of the sort to sell, with 100% of the sales going to the specific individual who made the piece so that he or she can rebuild their life.  I really enjoyed buying lots of goodies J

Today (Monday) we just went around showing the team the orphanage and children’ home, taking the day to love on kids, which is pretty much my favorite thing to do. 

A few things have smacked me in the face today.  Once I walked into the orphanage this morning, one of the girls I am particularly fond of, Daji, grabbed my hand and took me to her mattress on the floor and lifted it up to grab a few papers and pencil hidden under it to show me something she drew, when it hit me that I have more possessions in the bag around my shoulders than she has on this world.  I sat down with her and was excited about her picture, and almost cried.  She is about nine years old and is confused why my fingernails are not painted like hers are and why only one of my ears is pierced.  She gave me the one silly band that she had.  She and her friend Naphtalie sat down with me last week and with my very broken French and Creole and their very broken English, asked me about my family.  They wanted to know my parents’ names and if I had siblings and their names.  Then, any other kid who walked up, they would tell them all about me.  Still, when they see me, they let me know that they remember my name and that my mom is Karen.

We also had a conversation about me leaving, which was really sad.  They had asked about a member of a team that had been here a couple weeks ago, and I had to explain that she went back home to the US.  Then, they asked if I was leaving too, and I had to say yes, and explained in how many days.  They were sad, but understood, and began to ask about everyone else here.  I told them about us interns all leaving, but made sure they realized all of the people that are not going anywhere and will be here to love them always.  And I told them that I expect to see them when I come back over Spring break.  (Oh, by the way, Mom and Dad, I’m coming back over Spring break)

 These children have a way of breaking my heart on a daily basis.  I am having a VERY difficult time coming to terms with the fact that I am leaving in just a few days.  There are a lot of issues right now regarding the management of the orphanage and, ultimately, the fate of these kids, so they are constantly on my mind and in my prayers, and my hope is that you will pray for them, as well.  The genuine love that they give is straight from God, himself.  I know that I am receiving so much more from them than they are from me-- all I do is smile, show them their pictures on my camera, pass out band-aids and let them wear my sunglasses.  They are changing my view of the world.