HaPpY BiRtHdAy aLySsA

Happy Birthday Alyssa!

So Alyssa wanted to post her journal entries for you all on her birthday.  I am so proud of her heart!  What a wonderful daughter and person she is growing into.  I can’t believe she is 15 today!

Today is February 3, 2015, my 15^th birthday.  But, that is absolutely the last thing on my mind!  This is the third birthday I’ve spent in Haiti, and I wouldn’t want to spend it anywhere else!  I am so thankful that I was able to travel to Haiti this year! (especially with my brother Luke)

I didn’t  have time to write something for the blog the first couple of days, so I would like to share a few notes and thoughts that I have written in my journal so far for this trip. 

After going on multiple mission trips to the same places, it is easy to forget what your first reaction and impact was from seeing the poverty.  Yet, it hits me hard EVERY time I go down to Haiti.  I pray that God humbles me every time I step foot in Haiti and sure enough, I was heartbroken when we arrived.

These were my thoughts on the 2 hour bus ride when we first arrived and the first day here.  When you first enter the country you can hardly speak because the poverty smacks you in the face.  Trash completely lines the streets, roads are cracked and bumpy, houses are shacks, sewage flows along the side of the roads, and people flood the area all looking at the “blancs” on the big yellow bus.  And there is the famous “Haiti smell”-a mixture of sewage, gas, trash, rotten eggs, plants, and burning garbage.  Yet through all of this, it reminds me to not look at the outside.  For as soon as I walk through the streets of Haiti, beautiful Haitians come running to you as if you are royalty.  They hold your hand, smile, and beg to play with you.  Looking into their sweet eyes is worth more than a million dollars.  You come here to bless them, but you are the one being blessed!  They show me an amazing example of what it means to be on fire for God.  They have so little, yet praise God in so many more ways than we do.

Friday Overview:

I am SO thankful that we got the chance to go up to our sponsor kids home!  We played many games with the twins, and they were so cuddly!  Their older sister kept saying “I love you” to me.  The twins gave us many hugs and high fives.  I can’t believe that at one point, they were scared of us!

Saturday Overview:

House building was INSANE.  We got a lot accomplished in one day.  And let me tell you, I am more sore from lifting buckets of cement, shoveling, and sifting than I ever have been in my APC weights class at school hahahahaha!  Another lady and I started power cleaning the buckets.  Everyone worked hard and I am excited to finish our family’s home!

Sunday overview:

Church on Sunday was amazing!  I love the way they worship!  They dance, shout, and lift their arms up while singing to our Savior.  The kids from the children’s home gave an adorable play that portrayed that no matter who you are, you can make a difference.  We also heard a few songs from a gospel teen choir.  I wish church was this exciting and enthusiastic at home!

Monday Overview:

We had another hard work day house building.  We are almost finished with the house, and I can’t wait for the house dedication with my family!  I also watched a bunch of surgeries that were so fascinating.  You can’t stop watching.  One of the neatest was a huge cyst on a man’s back.  Dr. Bill removed it and cut it open to see what was inside!

Tuesday Overview:

Today will be my first day working in the clinic this trip! J  I will be directing people to clinic rooms, praying for people at the infant nutrition clinic, and working in the lab!  We also will go to the church service at Jeanty, which is always one of my favorite parts of the tripJ  There will be dancing, singing, and holding little Haitians.  I’m telling you, our churches better step it up!

Overall Summary:

Seeing the streets of Haiti leaves me speechless and heartbroken.  There is so much that can be done.  So many ways that we can help!  And who wouldn’t want to help these people?!  It makes me disappointed in the United States and the selfish people that we live with.  I wish everyone had the chance to experience this trip to Haiti.  It truly is life changing, and has given me a new perspective on life.  Even the smallest complaints and worries that I think of make me cringe, for we have no idea how blessed we are in the US!  God has definitely been working through this medical team, and I am super excited to be a part of it!  I hope that I can continue to make many more trips down to Haiti, and I pray that more steps will be taken so that we can become more like the hands and feet of Christ!

LOL, that was not “a few” thoughts, but oh well!  Thanks for reading!

Alyssa