2020 Haiti Mission – Sat Feb 8

I have been “working” most of the time I have been here so far so I had not visited the Grandma’s House. This part of the mission is home to about 12 seniors and 7 people with special needs. Many of them were abandoned by their family because they could not take care of them. If it wasn’t for the Mission of Grace most of them would not have a place to live.

When I walked into the Grandma’s House this morning several of the residents (lovingly) gave me hard time saying they couldn’t believe I had been here almost 2 weekends and had not come to see them. I tried to tell them I had been busy but they were not feeling me. To mitigate their scorn I took a moment to kiss and fuss over each of them. Can you say, “spoiled rotten”?

I make it a habit of taking pictures of the people we interact with while we are here. And I usually bring printed copies of those pictures when I return. They absolutely love to see themselves in print! So not long after I took my seat, one of the seniors comes out of her room with a couple of pictures. One is of her and a missionary from 2017 named Justine. She talks about Justine’s beauty and gentleness, and how she made her feel special when she was here. I can tell she cherishes the photo and the memories it represents.

One of the things I enjoy doing when at the Grandma’s House is sitting on the front porch and rocking in one of the chairs. Truth be told, in the past I have fallen asleep on that very porch on multiole ocassions. Paul and I take seats on either side of a lady who reminds me so much of my mom. I sit there quietly holding her hand while rocking back and forth. After a while one of the other ladies approach us and tell her she has had enough time with the men and to let her sit in the seat. Of course she refuses. We all get a chuckle but for real she does not get up.

Noon is approaching and I need to get to the soup kitchen so I tell them I have to leave. The lady sitting next to me says she wants a picture before I head out. I say okay and grab my camera but she tells me to wait until she changes her clothes. When she comes back out she is dressed in her Sunday best, including a hat and all I can do is laugh as I snap her photo. Of course two other ladies now have to get dressed and have their picture taken. And four other people want photographs. I lovingly oblige each of them before I leave.