Haiti

When you first hear the name of the country Haiti you usually think of "devastating earthquake." So flying into Haiti I expected to see crumbled buildings and destruction all around. And.......I did. Churches, the capital building, houses, stores, roads, orphanages, you name it, we found it crushed, crumbled or falling down. So to go along with this devastation I expected to see hopelessness in the locals and........we did. The adults in Haiti sat on the streets trying to sell their products, whether it was home-made or the local product they were trying to sell it all, but everyone had the look of "I don't know if I can make it through another day and I'm not sure if it is even worth trying!" These feelings along with the excruciating humidity really put a negative vibe into this country as soon as you step off of the plane. Of course, then, it is very easy to fall into the trap of negativity and despair and you can almost start to become part of the hopelessness and think there is nothing anyone can do.
But, that is just about the time when we walked into our first orphanage. Inside this crumbling old building that had no electricity and sewer water running from the kitchen to the outside were 20 beautiful children! They were smiling. They were laughing. They were running around playing. They were having a great time. They didn't know that the world outside wasn't going to help them. They didn't know that everything was stacked against them. They didn't know that they were "supposed to" have an iPod. It was humbling. They were the happiest people in this country and, as far as I could tell, some of the happiest people in this world.
I went down to Haiti to see how I could help save as many people as possible from death and decay, but I think the children's smiles and hugs and high-fives may have saved me from years of thinking that I don't have enough, or life isn't fair, or thoughts of "Why is this line moving so slow?!" Devastating earthquake? Yep. But, pure joy in kids, DEFINITELY
God is changing lives in Haiti, I know, I am one of them.