Jesus Loves the Little Children

Greetings from Grand Goave! It’s Bethany here. We’re having a wonderful time so far, enjoying the weather, the projects, and the people. If anyone was curious, my hair has been getting bigger and bigger by the day.

This morning was spent sanding, staining and assembling the church pews. They’re coming along at a pretty good pace, and it’s been a lot of fun to be a part of that process. A few members of our team also began laying brick at the new duplex in the Children’s Village, which means that they came back to the compound very sweaty!

I was also able to take some time to read my bible, journal and pray before lunchtime. For those of you who know me, you know that Haiti is a place that is very dear to my heart. A large reason for this is the way that it ignites my prayer life. My fellow team members, as well as the hosts here, have really encouraged each other to pray and spend time with God. I am so thankful for that.

After lunch, we prepped for our second day of VBS (aka organized chaos), which started at 2pm. We had older kids than we had yesterday (grades 3-5), but despite my expectations, they did not catch on to (or follow) game rules as quickly as our grade 1s and 2s! That being said, it was still a lot of fun to lead worship music and wide games. Running around and laughing with the kids makes my heart so full! Overall, I would consider our 2-day VBS a success and am so glad we were able to do it.

When I was in Haiti this time last year, I decided to sponsor a child and had the opportunity to meet her during my trip. I was able to meet with her again yesterday which was wonderful, but she was very shy and serious (as she had been last year)! Today, she came to VBS, and when I caught her eye she smiled at me! If you had witnessed either of our previous interactions, you would know that this is a small victory. Her little smile was one of the biggest highlights of my trip so far.

I’ve been enjoying our time here at Haiti ARISE so much. God is so present in this place and in the people that we’ve met and worked with. Our projects have been running along with very few hiccups, and it’s been amazing to see each member of our time exercise different gifts in different ways. We’ve been working hard and playing hard (literally – there’s been a lot of guitar playing) and although I’m exhausted at the end of each day, I can say that I’m feeling spiritually filled.

Bethany Dick on behalf of the Cornerstone Team