Pictures of Heaven: Haiti Mission Trip, Day 7

Previous days’ blogs:
Days 1 & 2
Day 3
Day 4
Days 5 & 6

Sunday, November 4

Sunday was our last full day in Jacmel, and we got a REALLY early start, attending the 6:00 A.M. service at Hosanna Baptist Church.  I’ve never seen the sun come up during a service before.  And the place was PACKED!  Because of the heat by the 8:00 service, most in the church prefer the early service.  Would they be awake?

We didn’t have to wait long to find out.  With a keyboard, a saxophone, and one singer leading us, the place got loud quickly.  Why?  Not because of the sound system but because everyone was singing with all their hearts and voices.  What a beautiful sound!  I particularly love singing songs that I recognize and can sing along with in English.  I have also experienced this in churches in Cuba and Poland, and it is such a picture (though small) of the worship around the throne in Heaven one day when every tribe and tongue and nation will bring praise to our Risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

In all fairness, Jacob is playing, not sleeping.

An early church service meant a long morning and afternoon.  We took  photos with the kids all dressed up from church (above - Don't they look sharp?).  We played and finished signing one another's shirts. We played.  We rested.  And sadly, we packed.  But we also prepared for our final time with all the kids and one another that night.


Sunday night was the highlight of the trip for me.  If you were reading the blog before the trip, you read about the towels that my small group sent with us.  Each towel was monogrammed with one of the House of Abraham kids’ names on it.  The Lord had spoken to me in preparation for the trip just what we were to do with those towels.  I had hardly been able to contain my emotions throughout the week as I anticipated Sunday night.

Before our final team debrief, we gathered on the roof and put out 13 chairs in which the kids were to sit.  When they came up and were seated, I shared with them a short devotional from John 13, the account of Jesus washing the disciples' feet as an example of how we are to serve one another. Then, one by one, our team began to wash the feet of these precious children.  We dried their feet with their personalized towels and then folded them and placed them in their laps so that they could see their names on their towels.  I have no photos or videos of this; some moments are just too holy to try to capture through anything but memory.

As each of us washed the feet of one of the children, we would look into his or her eyes and communicate the love of our Savior.  There were many unique and special friendships formed between our team members and specific children during the week, and many of these were paired for the foot washing. 

After we had washed the feet of each of the children, we washed the feet of Jean-Jean, Mimi, and Fenel. As Scott washed Fenel's feet, he told him that those who serve most, rarely get served themselves but that that was what we came to do.  Then, each of us, in turn, poured a bowl of water over Fenel's feet.  No words can capture that moment, so I won't even try, but if you have ever had an opportunity to bless someone who has been a tremendous blessing to you, you understand in some measure what it meant for us to be able to wash the feet of those who had blessed us.

As if our emotions hadn't been wrung out enough, Fenel asked Erlande and Richardson to pray for us.  They prayed in a language that we didn't understand but with tears and a fervency that we did.  What a night!

In preparing for this trip, there was one regret that I had.  On this Sunday our church was recognizing Orphan Sunday for the first time, and I would not be able to be there.  Though we had people at each of our campuses who were entirely competent (in many ways, more so) to talk about all the areas of the 4theVoiceless ministry with those who were interested, I wanted to be there.  However, on that Sunday night, washing the feet of children who had been rescued and the feet of those who were leading them in the ways of the Lord was the perfect place for me to be on Orphan Sunday 2012.  I will never forget it.

Tomorrow's blog will be about the final day of our trip.  Today marks the first day that I can't look back and say, "Last week at this time, I was (insert memory from Haiti)."  A large part of my heart is still in Haiti, and I am looking forward (and saving toward) re-connecting with it in 2013.

Thanks for reading.

4theVoiceless,
Al