Lutheran Church of Hope – Laughter is Contagious

The Lutheran Church of Hope team spends the day visiting a local orphanage and hospital, experiencing the heartache of conditions contrasted against the exuberant joy of the children. 

Catch up on Lutheran Church of Hope’s Day 4 here. 

Hello from Pignon! What an amazing day! We headed out bright and early to the Homes for Hope orphanage where we met Bill and Jennifer Campbell and heard their incredible story of how they were called to run the orphanage over 14 years ago. The team then split up and half trenched an old sewer line while the other half helped pour a concrete slab.

Digging at the orphanage More Digging

During a break, we had the opportunity to tour a local hospital. We were able to see the urgent care (emergency room), clinic, surgery, sonography (a department particularly interesting to Claire!), the eye clinic, dental clinic, and hospital rooms. Hospital rooms generally have four patient beds to each room. The hospital visit was certainly a somber time, and heartache was felt by all of us.

Upon conclusion of the tour, we headed back to the orphanage for a wonderful lunch of rice and beans, goat, coleslaw, and fried plantains. We also had nice cold Cokes and Sprites to drink. We said goodbye to our new friends at Homes for Hope and headed back to the campus for a little down time.

Charlie and Jenny at the orphanage

After a fun game of LOLZ with mouthpieces, the kids in the group headed over to the playground to play with the children from the neighborhood. The smiles and the laughter were contagious. Many said it was one of the “highs” of the day.

Playing on the MH playground

Christi rounded us up and we headed out for a late day hike to the PIGNON sign. Not as long as Monday’s hike up the mountain, but just as steep and certainly challenging. Along the way, many children joined us, by the time we reached the sign, we had quite the entourage. It was breathtaking.

We headed back, had dinner, and settled in for highs/lows and devotions. Sandy led devotion time by talking about the lessons she learned last year about the power of prayer after returning from her first trip to Haiti.

We are so thankful for each other as a team and for all the our brothers and sisters in Christ we are meeting here in the beautiful country of Haiti.

Blessings!

Jodi and Rori

Catch up on Lutheran Church of Hope’s Day 4 here.