Beli

I want you all to know I am safe in Haiti. :) It has been an incredibly busy first week, and an incredibly wonderful week!! There is so much to say about all that I have seen and done this week, which I will talk more about in another post, but to summarize a bit of what this week is like, let me tell you a story.

This last week I have tagged along with the team that was here volunteering for the week. Our project was to build three more classrooms for our friend Maxo's school. Maxo is a compassionate Christian man who started this Christian school for the community of Bellevue. The children are incredibly beautiful and hungry for love: giving them a hug, holding them, holding their hand, letting them sit on your lap.... at one point I had about nine little ones trying to cram onto my lap!! These children are also incredibly poor. Today there was no school, but many children still came to help us, watch, play and teach us Kreyol. ;) I started talking to two little girls: one whose name is Beli (beh-LEE). In the beginning of the week, she was a tough nut to crack: she wouldn't smile or talk very much, but eventually my friend from this week's team, Julie, softened her up with her sweet, hilarious personality (and silly faces ;). I asked Beli if she had eaten today. She said no. Today she does not eat. I asked the other girl (whose name escapes me because it is so long and difficult to pronounce; also a sweetie). She said the same. "I'm hungry," she says.
Beli saw I had paint on my hands, arms and legs. She and her friend, without a word, grabbed some wet wipes close by and began to clean off the paint. I was speechless. They scrubbed and scrubbed, and eventually did get all of it off of me.
I could not get out of my mind the story of Jesus washing the disciples' feet.... I am not teaching these girls to be more like Jesus, they are teaching ME.
This place, these people, are wrecking me.

Please pray for Beli and her friends- that they will not have to chew on plastic and wood tomorrow for food. Please pray that God would enable their families to provide food for them. Please pray that the sores on their legs and feet will heal and close. Please pray that they will not be in despair like most of the Haitian people; like their parents and older siblings. I believe with all my heart Jesus knows each Haitian child by name, knows every hair on their head and cherishes them. He fed the five thousand, I believe He will feed these little ones too, and that the last shall be first in eternity.

Matthew 19:14 -

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."