Prayer Walking

This morning the menfolk, Eric and Jeff went back to the orphanage to continue their" potty project".  Thankfully more block was delivered so they could continue.  It's dirty work and Jeff came back resembling Pigpen from the Peanuts cartoon!

Bonnie, Kelsey,  Ashlee (our ReachGlobal guesthouse leader) , myself and Jen (from Nebraska) went to My Life Speaks in Leogan.  It is a ministry that focuses on caring for special needs children and has a big community presence and feeding program.  Kids in Haiti with special needs are often abandoned or neglected.  It is hard enough to care for your children here and provide for even their basic needs but if they have cerebral palsy, Down's sydrome or other issues it can be overwhelming.  My Life Speaks has a "family house"where a Haitian house mom and dad are with several special needs kids.  Elizabeth, an OT from Kentucky has committed to a year here.  We spent some time in her therapy room working with individual kids.  She has improvised well and has had to be a PT and speech therapist, too.  She has done some amazing work and her love for these kids shines through!   We did a home visit to a child with probable Down's and it was cool to see the interaction both parents had with the child.  There was hope on their faces and love as they described the progress their son has made.  This was not the case in the beginning.  Hope is an incredible gift for these parents with special needs kids.

In the afternoon, our whole team did our first prayer walk.  We were all a bit apprehensive since none of us had done anything like it before.  We had two Haitian translators with us to lead us into a village "neighborhood"where we simply approached people, had a conversation to get to know a bit about them and then ask them for prayer.  A bit awkward and intimidating for us Americans.  Imagine if someone approached you this was and came up to your home as you were doing laundry, sewing or operating your small store.  You might think they were a bit nuts and be leery of them and not want to interact at all.  Not true for these Haitians we encountered!  They were immediately welcoming.  The best example was an old woman immediately kissing each one of us on the cheek and literally running around to gather enough chairs for all of us to sit.  Every person said Oui (YES) when asked for prayer.  The interesting thing was none of them asked for the things you'd think they would ask for.  Several asked for us to pray for their spiritual life.  When asked about specific requests, a few responded "God already knows what I need." Two mothers looked beaten down and were a bit more subdued, like the spark had gone out of them.  In separate encounters, both asked for prayer to be married.  Each lived with a man who fathered their children and one even said she didn't want to be a "sinner." Our hearts went out to the tough circumstances that many women here are dealing with.

How I wish my prayer life looked more like that!  God already know the details of what I need.  I just want to pray to strengthen my relationship with Him....

In the early evening we decided to walk up the nearby mountain to watch the sunset.  What an awesome vantage point to view this beautiful country.  We could see the ocean and a birds-eye view of Maxo's school,  the Repire Haiti school and many blue Samaritan's purse shelters.  It was a tranquil setting and perfect weather and a chance to experience God's handiwork.

Hope is alive in Haiti and prayer makes a difference!