Haiti September 7, 2015

Report by Jennifer Hennis

We all had been given our assignments for the day. Some of us would be painting the school, fixing the generator, picking up team members from Port au Prince, and assembling soccer goals. Some of the kids in the community were also clearing the field where they could play soccer.

Today was also the first day of school! The kids looked muy belle (pretty) and muy bo (handsome) in their plaid navy uniforms. We talked with them while setting up our painting supplies in some of the empty classrooms. We painted 5 rooms and then played games with the kids. The kids love games! We play double-double, thumb war, arm wrestling, they make videos on phones, and play on the teeter-totter. We also cleaned up all the paint tools and many of the kids wanted to help.

My favorite part of the day was taking the pieces of the goals to the fields and putting them together with the kids. We set up each goal one at a time, and with each step you could feel their excitement rising. They knew they were one step closer to playing soccer! Pastor Jeremy explained, through our interpreter Paraton, that the soccer fields were God’s and the kids would be expected to be good stewards of what was His. After we prayed over the field and the kids, we threw the soccer ball to one of the kids. It was like watching Christmas morning as the teams were quickly selected and they started to play. They wore pure joy on their faces running from one side to the other. We were the ones who were given a treasure we would not soon forget.