Friday: Soccer with the boys and General Hospital

Yesterday was a tiring day for us all, we woke up at 5:45 am to attend "tent church" a massive pull barn church where the local Haitians go for worship and service.  It was an enlightening experience to say the least, the Haitians have such a love for God and they show it in the way they worship.  The pastor, Gary, was singing loud and proud.  The Haitians have such a different culture in that they are not afraid to show their love for God in any way. They wave their arms and dance in the aisles and among the pews singing praise to Him.  Their love for God is infectious.  Although the worship was cut short due to a funeral the presence of God in the Tent Church was as strong as any Rockpoint, and it dawned on me that what connects us all is that we are all God's children, He doesn't discriminate or pick favorites, His love and grace are available to us all fully.  Later after church we got to bring the neighborhood boys who were free from school at the time to a real soccer field instead of the rock-ridden sandlot and street below to play.  The smiles on their faces as we boarded the top-top bus and let them run into the field were beyond priceless.  We divided the teams and even some of the local boys to the field joined in, far from regulation soccer, we played 13 vs 12 and had an amazing time.  They are amazing soccer players and they were all so grateful for the chance to play on a real pitch with standard sized goals and penalty boxes, however decrepit.  By the time we were finished all of us on the team were exhausted, but the boys looked as though they could play for another 5 hours!  After we came back we surprised them by handing out a local type of meat pie and juice, which they rarely get, sending smiles throughout all of us and them alike.  When we had finished recovering from the exhausting soccer game with the seemingly semi-professional neighborhood boys we headed to General Hospital to hand out donations of disposable diapers, wet wipes, baby food and cloth diapers for the babies in critical condition due to injury or other serious ailments.  The progress they have made to the wing is phenomenal, the babies are in an air-conditioned building now with no rats scurrying about under them.  This emboldened my heart because, they are making so much progress and rebuilding what they once lost in the earthquake.  Although we could not do much more for the babies except hand the donations out and pray for them it was a rewarding experience nonetheless.  I feel as though God is here willing the people to recover and persevere through the hard times they are experiencing here in Haiti.  I thank God for this experience so much because it has helped me grow into the man I know both He and I want me to be.  I will never forget this experience it has humbled me in ways I wish I could put into words.  The walls He has helped me break down to touch these kids with His love is amazing and I wouldn't trade the experience for anything.  -Dan Shusterich

We were blessed with the opportunity to go our for dinner to Pizza Amore. It was wonderful - the setting, the company (our team and Maxim), and the pizza! It was also fun to ride back in the tap-tap at night time. Get to see a different side of Port au Prince. -LG