Crave students preparing to leave for Haiti.

Hello from Haiti! We are coming to the end of our second full day, broken and encouraged at the same time. It is a surreal experience to get to be here, but every moment we spend reminds us that our God is also in this devastated place. Stepping off the plane, I realized it is less intimidating than I thought it would be because people here are just as human and in need of love as the people I have experienced in my life. When we smile, their faces light up and send a universal signal of love back our way. They long for attention just like we do and appreciate love and adoration.


Rainbow over Haiti.

On Sunday, our first day here, we went to Pastor Rene's church called Delmas. As we walked in, a couple hundred Haitian men, women, and children stood singing and worshiping the God of compassion and love. They sang loud without instruments or impressive lighting. It was just them and Jesus--pure hearts wholeheartedly worshiping their creator--it was inspiring. Later in the afternoon, a few people went to the church's youth conference and loved and prayed with college-age students.


One of the groups we are working with here is called "Swamp Kids." They used to live in a swamp until missionaries found them and helped them find a building to temporarily live in with the pastor. This man and his family lives with the 30 kids full-time and work hard to provide and love these children. Their orphanage is currently in a temporary location and they stay in a really plain building with screen-less windows (so many bugs/mosquitos get inside), without furniture, and without electricity. Some of the kids get to go to school, but the majority don't yet get to because of money reasons.


Dancing, balloons, and singing in the rain at Swamp Kids.

These kids are in extreme need, but we praise Jesus for taking them out of the swampy pit and placing them into a safer environment. While we were with them, we got to play with them and hold and love them! Bubbles go a long way when language barriers minimize conversation and hand games allow personal interaction. Soccer (or football as some like to say!) always provides a good time, the boys love to play and jump around constantly!

We are also working with a refugee camp called Camp Abraham. These people live in temporary tents and tarps, set up in the dirt after the earthquake ruined their homes. The people of these camps have big hearts and love to play! They gave us a tour of their camps and the little girls holding my hands proudly pointed at their tarps and introduced me to their mom. They are such sweet children and love to jump rope, climb on us, and especially dance! The little boys literally climb on the guys on our trip and the little girls never stop asking the girls to hold them. They are beautiful and so loved by God. We are privileged to be here.

Today (Tuesday), we drove by the government building, aka the Palace, and saw the destruction caused by the earthquake. We saw the crowded clumps of people around town and the brokenness left by the rumbling earth.


"The Palace"

We finished the day by visiting Swamp Kids again, where we interrupted their school lesson for the day (oops!)! Those kids are beautiful and so great and they are opening up more and more each time we see them. They have been through a lot and are more shy than some of the other kids we have worked with, but as we continue to love, hold and play with them, they open up more and more. We made little paper hand puppets today and repeatedly mouthed the phrase "komon ou ye" which means "what is your name" and bonjou, because they are the phrases we best know. The kids loved to play with the puppets and eventually the creole term for 'hello' became a song, sung over and over again!


Photo by Nicole Leever (Crave Team)

God is good and He is moving in Haiti. We are so thankful to be here and to experience His presence daily. Everyone is safe and having such a great time! We can't wait to share more stories when we get back!!