We finally made the visit!

In 2007 God stuck a spark in us for this country. We felt in our hearts that we needed to be a part of these beautiful people. Back then we sponsored children through an organization in Haiti called New Missions before we even knew about Mission of Hope. Pierre and Djenica have long been in our hearts and we have on many occasion thought we needed to visit them and it never worked out. We tried to see them once before but it was a Sunday and it was not meant to be. This past month we finally made the trip out to where they live to see the children and their families that we have prayed for all this time. It was AMAZING. Let me tell you though, God had his reason's for us not being able to go until now since in the beginning we just did not know Haiti and the language nearly good enough for what we would have to go through to find them! We will tell the story though a series of photos.

We first showed up at New Missions compound to find our children. After a long wait, they did not show up like they were supposed to (not surprising for Haiti :) so a Haitian pastor took us to their school in rural Haiti outside Leogone. After a bit of a drive and a walk down to the school, the teacher said they were not there that day as they were sick. Thus started our trek with Frantz, a high school student that thought he knew where they each lived. 

We first set out to find little Pierre. Pierre we first sponsored when he was five and in kindergarten. Now he is is turning 10 and his birthday was coming up. First we went into the country to a small village settlement to find Pierre and waited for an hour for the family to come home. True to Haitian hospitality, a sweet old lady came out of no where and gave us chairs to sit on in the dirt. We waited and waited. Finally a little child walked up and they said, there he is. We took one look at the child and knew it was not our Pierre. After a discussion, we found out this was Pierre's cousin and Pierre himself lives a little further. 

After that our trusty Frantz was pretty sure he knew where to go so this is us traipsing through the field to go to the next location.

Once we emerged from the field and out the other side, we saw this beautiful scene. It was so lush and gorgeous it took our breath away. This is a small part of the Haiti that has not been cut down and instantly I was reminded how much I love this place.

After the field and the beautiful mountains, we passed a river and saw houses through the trees. Could this be the houses we thought? Would we finally get to meet little Pierre?

It was!!!

Here is Pierre (the one in the front with his head tilted to the side) with his mother, big brother (on the left) and his baby brother with mom in front of their house. A cousin (in the blue) stood for the picture too.

After we met them and explained who we were, Pierre's mom ran into the house and pulled out a family photo of us we had sent to her 4 years ago. This photo below is of us comparing the kids now to their photo back then. It was so touching to see she still holds that photo in her hands. This is quite amazing and let me tell you why. Pierre lives in this lush valley but this valley is also one of the areas hit the hardest by the earthquake last year. The house you see is a temporary house built by the Red Cross. There original house fell into rubble on the ground right here in this spot. The wood frame shelter they now have sits on the same footing. It is amazing that amongst the rubble, our family photo is something they pulled out and kept. Luckily the family ran out and all survived with minor wounds. 

We were able to see Pierre's dad too before he had to run off to work but here is a final picture of our two families together.

Pierre (next to me in the photo below) came with us on our trek back to the truck and we had a chance to chat. He is a sweet boy with a quick smile despite the fact that he had an infected tooth. 

Past the mountains and temporary houses with Frantz

Back at the car we showed Pierre his birthday present and read him his birthday card. 

And off he went one happy little kid and a some new friends made. Praise God for this little boy in a valley beside the mountains.

Then it was off to find Djenica. who was 6 when we started sponsoring her and is now 11. We had quick success with this as the little steep climb up the side of a hill next to the road led us directly to her house. Here is her broken house from the earthquake more than one year later. The inner rooms are still intact but the outer rooms stand open, a grim reminder of the past. 

Here is Djenica with her only sibling a little brother. 

Her father explains how the house broke and how they narrowly escaped and we talk about their family. 

Here we give her photos of our family while her excited father and Aunt look on. Our kids had a big part of choosing things to bless her with and so were excited to share some of their things with her. 

Here is a family photo of us all (except her mom who was washing at the water hole) before we left. Poor Djenica who was feeling ill that day stood for the photo but found it hard to break a smile, not that Ana did much better :)

It was such a blessing to be able to see these two children that we have prayed for all this time. Not only did we get to meet them, but we got to meet their whole families and visit their homes too. We wanted to not only sponsor them but also build relationships with them and let them know God cares about them so much he brought us together across the globe. It was fantastic to be able to speak their language and connect with them in that way. 

Praise God we finally made the visit!