The Hope Reformed Church team from Spencer, IA, had a blast hosting the 3rd annual “Colors Of Hope” color run on our campus. They enjoyed a fun day of color, smiles, and fellowship.
Click here to read yesterday’s blog.
Hello again to all of our pals reading! We had a very eventful day that included serving others and showing the endless love of Jesus Christ through our actions. The day started with waking up at the hour of 5:30 to be at breakfast on time by 6:00. We had to be at Pastor Francois’s church in Pignon early to get things ready for the runners who were participating in our Color Blast Run. The kids age ten to fourteen were already lined up outside of the gate when our team got to the church.
Finally, the gates were opened and a sea of rainbow squeezed through to be led up the hill by us four girls. Caitlyn and Kiersten passed out peanuts to the kids while one of our Haitian helpers, Watson, passed out bananas. Gloria and Sharon distributed drinks to the runners to finish off their morning meal.
Then it was time to go down to the church where Brenna and Carli handed out rainbow sunglasses that match with the kids’ shirts. Here we went over the rules of the race and what would happen after they finished. After this all of us lined up behind Craig and our main translator, Woodson, who would lead the race on their “motos”
Finally, the gates were opened and a sea of rainbow squeezed through to be led up the hill by us four girls. Caitlyn and Kiersten passed out peanuts to the kids while one of our Haitian helpers, Watson, passed out bananas. Gloria and Sharon distributed drinks to the runners to finish off their morning meal.
Then it was time to go down to the church where Brenna and Carli handed out rainbow sunglasses that match with the kids’ shirts. Here we went over the rules of the race and what would happen after they finished. After this all of us lined up behind Craig and our main translator, Woodson, who would lead the race on their “motos”.
If it wasn’t for the Haitian kids holding our hands throughout the race I don’t know if we would have had the motivation to finish. In the pictures taken you can see how the adults on our team got us all really good with the powdered paint.
Mike’s message was very powerful and is something that will stick with all of us. Also, the skit got many compliments and some of the leaders who brought their youth group asked us to perform it again tomorrow for them. Although we couldn’t understand them, we think all the kids enjoyed the two Haitian speakers that were brought in to speak. The runners received a Bible and bucket hat from us as well as being served lunch before going home.
Once the team finished cleaning up and eating lunch, we parted ways again. Most of us women went to the market with our Haitian friends while the others stayed back to continue working on their projects from the previous day.
The market was really busy and we had to squeeze through people in a single file line, stepping over various products that were laid out on the ground for sale. We saw the protective mother side come out of Jackie and Shelly as they made sure to keep an eye out for us.
After buying what we needed, we took a trip back to Pastor Francois’ to visit the orphanage and play with the children there. Christi even tried to teach us four how to ride the unicycle as well as she does. Brenna and Kiersten brought out the cups for “The Cup Song” rhythm and as soon as we started singing the song to it a crowd of children gathered around to watch. The kids returned the favor by singing back to us some of their songs before eating their snack that we passed out.
We left the orphanage and took a trip to the new market. As soon as the gates were opened, it was like we were in a whole different place. There were sidewalks and actually speed bumps in the road. Inside the market there were little cubicles where people will rent out to sell things. Then we got to enjoy the ride back to the compound.
We got back and started dinner soon after. The cooks made their version of Haitian spaghetti which was very delightful. Then we raced to the showers. It felt good to get all the paint and sweat out of our hair and be clean again. Jackie later led us in practicing songs to sing in church tomorrow. Once they were all figured out it was Gloria’s turn to lead devotions tonight. She used the metaphor of playing catch with God and our problems but instead of throwing our struggles back at us God keeps them. Stay tuned to find out a little bit about what church is like in Haiti.
Sincerely,
Carli, Brenna, Kiersten, and Caitlyn