Life to the full

Hello Everyone!

It’s Kari Bristol again. It is almost 10 pm and we just finished up our team time for the day. It was a long and fulfilling day!

Today our team was blessed to be able to participate in baptisms up at Healing Haiti’s Grace Village orphanage. There ended up being 2 team members (Tiffany & Shane Speltz), one Healing Haiti staff member, Gretchen the current American orphanage director, many Grace Village orphans, and a handful of kids from the town near the orphanage for a total of 37.

Shane & Tiffany getting baptized!

My husband, Kenny, had the privilege along with the spiritual director at Grace Village, Fan Fan, to baptize everyone.

Gretchen with the girls. 

When we arrived the kids were already dressed (all in white) and worshiping. The music team set up the sound system right on the edge of the playground and we worshiped together for a while before the baptisms and then after them we passed out rhythm sticks and egg shakers and the kids went wild. It was a sight and sound to behold!

FanFan doing his thing for God. 

My “word” of the day was “connections”.  I had the privilege to make many one-on-one connections with so many different children today. It was such a huge blessing to feel God’s grace just being poured out on me time and time again today.

My first connection was shortly after we got there. It was with a little 5-year-old boy named Joseph who just came to the orphanage a few weeks ago. I scooped him up and he snuggled right in. It wasn’t long before he laid down on my lap and fell sound asleep as the kids around him belted out worship songs and prayers.

Lyika, Idammae, and Me loving on Joseph as he fell asleep. 

My next connection was with one of the orphans that I had connected with on my last trip. Her name is Gernadette. She is 14 years old and was one of the kids that got baptized today. She had written me a lovely letter saying how she prays for me each day and she drew me a beautiful flower. It was great to spend some time talking with her and loving on her.

Gernadette getting baptized!

Next it was one of the kids from the town at the bottom of the hill from the orphanage. She was 8 years old and wearing a tattered but beautiful green dress. I offered to push her on the swing and for the next 2 hours she was stuck like glue to my side. We cuddled, hugged, exchanged lots of smiles, and danced during the music.

Then came the most memorable connection of the day.  Hopefully Karen or Jeff Moen, our team leaders, will give all the glorious details of God’s supernatural synchronicity (Karen’s words of the day) that went behind getting Grace Village’s newest orphan, Yolencia, brought up to Grace Village today. She is a 12 year old beauty whose parents have both died. She has lived in poorest slum of Haiti called Cite Soleil her entire life. A place where there is no running water, no electricity, no toilets, no garbage pick-up, and where many kids run the streets all day because their parents can’t afford the tuition of public school.

So it was the middle of a hot afternoon and I could tell she was getting tired. I grabbed her and sang with her for a while and I could feel her get heavy. I went to sit down with her and I had Gretchen as her if she was tired. She said yes and so I brought her to her new bed in the girls dormitory and she laid down and immediately fell asleep.

Yolencia on her first day at Grace Village. 

Lastly, I made a connection with a girl that I met on my last trip. She is 14 years old and as beautiful as a flower. She was given away by her parents, didn’t get to go to school, and forced to do all of the work in the house where she was staying. She was brutally abused and is now going through a rehabilitation process. We sat together for a while. When it was time for her to leave she said to me “I would like to go stay with you”. I told her that I would love that but that I live in America. Then she said “I would like you to come stay with me”. Again, I said that I would love to but that I have 2 small children at home that I have to go back and take care of. We exchanged hugs and kisses and lots of smiles and waved goodbye.

It was such a full day!

In John 10:10 Jesus says “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

If you have never experienced “life to the full” come to Haiti and prepare to be filled to overflowing!