Audience of One by MaryAnn Hall

Today was a beautiful day.  We saw and experienced hope, sang for an audience of one and remembered the lives that were lost on Jan. 12, 2010.  It was certainly a day I will never forget.

Our day started with a drive out to Grace Village, an orphanage built by Healing Haiti.  It was so nice to get out of the city and into the countryside where we saw some improved living conditions.  Nothing compared though with the hope of what Healing Haiti is doing at Grace village.  There, they are caring for orphans by providing food and water, lodging, education, health services and most importantly, community.  The vision they have for teaching Haitians how to be self-sustainable gave us hope for the future of these great people.

Healing Haiti is also caring for many of the elderly people in the nearby community of Grace Village.  Since the life expectancy of Haitians is only 52 years old, the elderly here are typically alone without much help --if any.  So we spent the entire afternoon visiting, praying and singing with some very special people at their homes. For me, it was the most beautiful moment of the trip so far.  When we asked the first elderly woman, Maricia, what Jesus means to her, she said, “Everything. I have nothing, so Jesus is everything.” 

At that moment I was reminded how each one of is so important to God and deeply loved by Him. Our worship team sings in front of thousands every weekend, but truthfully, we pray that the worship we share together touches just one person within those thousands.  We sing for an audience of one.  Tears filled my eyes as we sang the words from the song Cornerstone--our hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.  It was a beautiful time of worship that I will cherish in my heart.

None of us wanted to leave the elderly people we visited when it came time to go.  We will remember their smiles, laughter and tears of joy –they were such a blessing to all of us.

We had one final stop on our way home and that was to visit the mass burial site of the victims from the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.  It is estimated that half of the people who died that day were buried there.  It’s a beautiful mountainside memorial where friends and families can visit to remember their loved ones.  We continue to see the effects of the earthquake daily in the roads we’re driving on, the collapsed buildings and the people we meet.  Haiti will forever be in my prayers!