Today was our first day of Vacation Bible School. We went into a neighborhood very close to the epicenter were most of the damage occurred. Many of the house had great amounts of destruction. We were lucky enough to be working with a family who has affiliations in Atlanta. The family cooks lunch everyday for the neighborhood children. So we were asked to have a VBS with these kids.

We arrived and there were already children hanging around. We began the day with parachute games. The children had never seen anything like that and were so uncertain on what to do. Children catch on so quickly and fell in love with it. We then continued on telling them about how God created everything. They were able to form things God created out of play dough. Once again this was an experience that the children had never had. After finishing their creations, they began finding other things to do with it. The day continued with more games and lunch. We ended the day by talking about sin and what it is. The children then did an activity were they turned black (sin) into color (God).

We came in to the VBS with a plan but ready to throw it out the window depending on the situation. Flexibility was key as it has been since day one. Everyone worked together jumping in where they saw fit. God put us in a place with amazing children and who wanted to soak in every second they had with us. By the end of the day we were more tired than the first two days of construction.

We have worked with a lot of kids throughout our time in Haiti, but I feel today we really were able to make connections with the them. Several of them spoke English, but most of them didn’t. That didn’t matter, we found other ways to from relationships playing games like basketball with the play dough or hand clapping. These children simply want us to show them love and attention. Our team has been great at loving on the kids. We have held them, hugged them, and given them high-fives. I feel the hardest part will come Thursday when we have to tell them goodbye.

Ashley