Trust

Today we took 39 orphans to the beach. It was fabulous weather and the beach was rocky but beautiful and the water was wonderfully warm!

I started the day with the younger kids, but quickly gravitated to the teenagers. They almost craved for your love and attention more than the young ones. I spent the afternoon helping them learn out to float and eventually helped a couple of them learn how to swim. Not only was it great fun and they could not get enough but it was a wonderful lesson in trust. They would line up for their turn and when it finally was their's, they would hang on for dear life as I put them gently on their back. Eventually they relaxed as they learned to trust me that I would not let go. Ever so slowly, when I knew they were ready, I would remove one hand and eventually, maybe even two for a few seconds, waiting only a few inches below to catch them if they really weren't ready. What a sight is was to see their face radiate with pride as they began to actually trust themselves in this new adventure.

This is one of the two orphanages that will be moving to grace village in the fall. We did a quick tour of the orphanage after a sleepy ride bus ride back from the beach. There are at least 20 girls and they share 10 bunks (2 to a bed - even the teenagers) in a room no bigger than Kristina's. The boys bunks were made from cardboard and tent and as one team member commented "to think in America it is every little boys dream to sleep in a fort, but these Haitian boys, there dream is to have a bed of their own".

I trust that God will grant them this wish soon!