Haiti Day Three: Lunch Outing

When we drove our truck into the orphanage gates each morning,

we were greeted with smiles and endless hugs. 

It is an incredible way to start the day!

On the morning of our third day in Haiti,

we gave the place a clean, new coat of paint. 

Angela, some of the older boys and I also
painted our verse around an existing mural.

As we painted, hearing the boys read the
verse in Haitian Creole was like music.

Later in the day, the kids got all spiffed up for a lunch outing. 

All smiles, they walked in double lines holding hands. 

We ALL packed into our paddy wagon truck.

There were 62+ people piled in.

They smiled and sang the whole drive. 

A memory we won't soon forget. 

It was hot and Haiti-like,

but we didn't notice. 

We were too busy smiling,
holding hands,
and bodies, and storing this

precious time into our memories. 

The kids loved all the attention, the silliness and the sodas. 

And when two different "meat" (not so confident)
dishes were brought out,

there was no complaining,

no begging for another dish.

They ate it all, and then ate most of ours.

They shared and left hardly a crumb.

All 51 were a joy to lunch with. 

Our hope and prayer for the trip was to bless
both the nannies and the older kids. 

We hope that this excursion did just that. 

Lunch was followed by a round of ice creams

that we got to serve. 

The kids had only had ice cream one time in three years,

as it is very expensive. 

When you sign up for a mission trip,

you certainly never know how God is going to use you,

or what He is going to ask you to. 

I am certain that I never imagined myself playing Ben and Jerry in Haiti!  

They licked up every bite, with not even one

request for a certain flavor or for more. 

We drove home that night tired, dirty, sticky and filled up with gratitude for a most beautiful of days.