By way of a brief recap, the Mission of Grace (MoG) is based in the Village of Carries, Haiti. Carries is about 40 miles north and west of Port Au Prince which is the capital of Haiti. MoG is comprised of an orphanage which is home to 120 children, an elderly home, a young men’s home, a home for single mothers, a school for grades pre-k to 9th grade with about 315 students, a free clinic, a community church, and a soup kitchen.
My first stop on Thursday January 30th is the soup kitchen which normally serves lunch to about 200 people daily. In the past it was operational seven days a week. However, since the unrest they have been struggling to get enough funding and food to keep it running more than four days a week. As we arrive we see there are quite a few people in line hoping to get a meal. Noodles are on the menu but no one complains…it’s either eat this or go without as the soup kitchen doesn’t have enough food to open for the next couple of days. Ms. Lynn Joseph, MoG founder said she is expecting a large shipment of food to reach the Haitian port in the next day or so from the United States. She is prayerful they can get it through Haitian Customs and delivered to the mission by the middle of next week.
Later in the day I head over to the orphanage. Several of the young people have already gotten word that I am in town and have been anxiously awaiting my visit. It has been more than a year since I last saw them and it is apparent by the smiles and hugs which greet me that WE have missed each other very much. I know tomorrow is a school day so I purposefully don’t hang around too long this evening.
On Friday I am asked to give the opening prayer at the Grace Community School before the students head to class. I stop by the school again during the late morning recess period. Later in afternoon I go to the orphanage and spend the remainder of my day basking in the joy of these loving and loveable young people, particularly my girls Julie, Marie France and Fabiola, and my main man John Keli.
However I must confess the young lady pictured below, who I met for the first time on Thursday absolutely captured my heart. I plan to visit her a lot so she will always remember who her Uncle Vernon is.