Part II: Break my heart for what breaks Yours

“Break my heart for what breaks Yours; Open up my eyes to the things unseen. Show me how to love like You have loved me.” ~Hosanna, Hillsong United

These words were in my prayer as we flew into Haiti’s airport. I knew I wasn’t ready for what I would experience, but I wanted God to show me His people through His eyes. I desired to really see the pain but also the joy; the sorrow but also the hope. As I mentioned in the last post, the way people lived was hard to see; they were living to survive. It was difficult to witness and discouraging for the state of the city. But, once we got to interact with the kids, everything changed.

The first place we worked at was a school; Mrs. Louis wanted us to finish building the security wall (almost every building is behind security walls in a “compound”)for the school and put up a water cistern. She also wanted us to remove a heavy addition that she was afraid would crush the church in the event of another earthquake. When we got to the school on Monday morning, we could see the children in the open-air classrooms; they were reciting French words. It was like music to me! At about 10:00, they got their break. First the little kids poured out, and then the older ones. {I think this school only went to 6th grade.} Of course the kids ran to these new white people who they were peering at during class. I’ve really never seen so much excitement!

The younger kids were in precious yellow uniforms, while the order ones were in white and green uniforms. The uniforms made them that much cuter! Once we got to interact with the kids, we started pulling out the things we brought: bubbles, chalk, soccer balls. The kids absolutely loved the chalk. It’s incredible how naturally artistic many of the Haitians are! One of my favorite moments was sitting on the ground with the kids dangling over me, watching me draw simple pictures of a star, flower, smiley face and heart. They would then replicate the image until they perfected it. You could see the beam of pride pour out of them once the pictures were finished. Their smiles will never fade in my mind.



The kids also loved to play hand-clapping games. They knew some and they loved learning ours. What a simple thing! And bubbles, they would scream and run around trying to catch a bubble…this never got old.




And one of my favorite things I got to do is something Michael and I often do with our nieces and nephew: play chase. This was by far the best thing I did with the little kids. They loved to hide and play chase. I don’t think I had smiled and laughed so hard! They would run and laugh and it warmed every part of my heart. I wish I had that sound on a recorder!



Michael and I both also got to play soccer with the younger and older kids, as well as the neighborhood boys (more on those neighborhood boys in the next post). Michael didn’t get to play with the kids as much since he was on the roof most of the time, but he did take a break to play soccer which he loved. So many of the kids have exceptional talent…and they play on concrete- not grass!

A few more shots of the cutest kids!





Hopefully you got to see the joy that these children brought to us. Their innocence and happiness were sighs in my soul for the Haitian people. These kids, even though they’ve seen more in their short lives than most of us have, have the heart of God. These sweet little kids are what give me hope for Haiti. More updates later!

~LB