It's taken me three weeks to sit down & write this post. Honestly, I just don't think I'm done with processing my week in Haiti.
I may never be.
In Knoxville, our church is known as "The Haiti Church." This doesn't bother me in the least bit, from an outsiders point of view. [Mainly because I also see a lot of our Kingdom work that goes on in Knoxville, too]
But, as a member who had never been to Haiti, I could relate to people in our church who also hadn't made the trip. If you haven't gone, sometimes you feel a bit like your out of the loop. It's talked about a lot. We have many families adopting from Haiti. We even have an entire table in our lobby about Haiti & what's going on there. It's inevitable, that if your come to White Stone, you'll hear about Haiti. That's just the way it is.
So, for lack of a better word, I was somewhat cynical about going. Don't get me wrong - I really wanted to go. I wanted to meet & see all of the faces that go with the names I've been hearing about for the last year. I really wanted to meet Bradly. I really wanted to experience it all. But there was a part of me that was just ugly- in a "I'm not going to get all wrapped up in this stuff & want to change it all" kind of way.
Funny, how God works.
I'm officially all wrapped up in that stuff & wanting to change it all. I was completely "jacked up" [as my friend Rachel calls it] from my one little week in Haiti.
But so for the good.
[PAP]
We were only in the capital, Port au Prince, leaving & returning back to the airport. PAP is a dirty, dark place. The sights & smells through the city are not ones that could be described. The lack of government & authorities is very evident in the city. It was definitely a culture shock. It's a world you really just have to experience for yourself.Our orphanage is a 3 hours truck ride up the mountains in a small community called Camatin. The orphanage was formally two communities over in Coq Chante - this building collapsed in the earthquake & the girls were moved to the new building in Camatin. Most of our time was spent in these mountains villages of Camatin, Coq Chante & Belloc.
The first day & night are a bit of blur. I did not sleep at all the night before we left & I think I was just a little overwhelmed by it all that first day.
On Sunday, we headed to church at Coq Chante, the new church & school are on the site of the old orphange. All of that is completed now & is a beautiful place. It was humbling to see the fruits of a lot of work & money that people have given over the last couple of years to help the community get back on it's feet.
