Lora Samuelson will give a presentation at the adult bible class Sunday June 19. A little summary of her trip follows:
I went with a group of 23 other people from KS, MO, NE mostly. The House of Hope has two orphanages – one that has been existence for several years and one that was built after the earthquake. The original HOH has 17 children living and going to school there and the newer HOH has 43 children. The HOH organization also built a school up on the mountain for the children living up there – they used to walk about 2 hours each way to attend the school at the original HOH. Our focus on this trip was to do health checks, conduct interviews, hand out shoes, clear brush and plant a garden and fruit trees. We got most of those things accomplished, but it was difficult to work with all the children wanting our attention! The little girls just want to be held and cuddled, while the little boys loved playing soccer with the young men and women in our group. The children in the orphanage are very well cared for – have clean clothes, shoes, and all are going to school. Many of the children in the surrounding village don’t have shoes, alot cannot afford to go to school. They always ran to meet us when our bus pulled up and followed us to the orphanage everyday. I’ll never forget their sweet, happy spirits! It was difficult to communicate because the kids speak French Creole, but if I started singing a song – they would start singing it in their language. Hearing those little voices sing “Jesus Loves Me” was better than any rock concert! Sunday worship in Haiti was about 2 hours and the Holy Spirit was present in such a powerful way! The kids from the village walked about a mile to attend and everyone wears their very best. The people love to sing and they worship and sing with their whole heart. I loved my time with the children and people of Haiti – it was so hard to say good bye. I hope and pray that the the Lord makes a way for me to go again.
To God be the glory!