Day 2 (and 3) in Haiti

Johnny typed yesterday's post, but I have a little to add :) As of 3 days ago, the director of the school decided to begin classes for the few students still in-country. A handful of teachers are here teaching 65 students from Pre-K to 12th grade. School is the best way for them to begin getting back into a normal routine (even though school is very very laid back). I have been able to sit and talk with them--to hear their stories and to encourage them as they deal with the emotional aftermath of the earthquake. While I will never be able to completely understand what they went through that day and what they have dealt with since then, I do understand them as a friend who experienced Haiti BE (before earthquake). It has been a privilege to serve them in this way, and Johnny and I are working on ways to help relieve them so they can get some rest. Johnny is pretty good at comic relief and the school has asked him to do a chapel service on Monday (the kids always asked me when he would come back to do another chapel!).

When I am not at the school helping with random errands, counseling, or stress relief, I am translating as needed. Last night I rode up with a team of Dominican doctors and a few American nurses to guide them to where they'll be staying. The driver spoke Spanish but he did have a Haitian translator with him who spoke Creole and Spanish. I spoke to him in Creole and he relayed the directions in Spanish. It was quite an experience! We got to the house (my friends Tim and Paola's house) after dark and I helped them unload their supplies. It was hard being back in Tim and Paola's home knowing they had to leave soon after the earthquake (Paola is 7 months pregnant!). I slept at their house the first night after Katie died, so there were a lot of memories there.

I realize that living in Haiti I have experienced a lot of tragedy. I know that this is a hard place, but at the same time I can really see the Lord moving here. Haiti is a very spiritual place indeed, but not a completely lost one. There are forces of darkness because of the voodoo, etc, but we know that Jesus has power over all of it! The believers here know it too, and they know who to thank for their blessings. I've been told that the night after the earthquake that you could hear Haitians singing and crying out to God. The director of the school told me that the people in the ravine near his home were singing "Count Your Blessings." What an amazing example of faith in the face of terrible tragedy.

Please keep praying...that is the number one need in Haiti right now!


Kim

PS--I will get pictures up asap. We borrowed a computer the first night in Jacmel and this morning I thought I loaded pictures on a jump drive so I could leave my laptop at the missionary's home we are staying at. Apparently I didn't...I'll get them posted soon!