Hope you enjoy this little video of our volunteers singing along to “Jesus Loves The Little Children” with some of the little ones yesterday!

When I walked up on to the balcony this morning, I heard the sounds of familiar Sunday School songs from my childhood playing on the cd player, and came upon the volunteers singing and playing little musical instruments with the kids.  The kids were smiling and giggling as the volunteers were engaging them in song.  I couldn’t help but be drawn in, so I plunked down on the floor with Jerrensia, and joined in!  Some kids got the hang of shaking the bells, or tapping the sticks together, while others were content to just put the sticks in their mouth. 

Stephanie, one of our volunteers from Minnesota (USA), does a music program with babies and young children called Musik Garten, and she brought her instruments along, and was excited to share her love of music with the little ones here!  She also brought a cd along, which her friend recorded, with all the classic children’s Sunday School songs to sing and play along with. 

Music is such a beautiful gift that God has given us, and just this morning, I was reading in the Psalms about how God delights in our praise. How special that we can share that with these children, and I trust that in their small hearts, they are able to sense the presence of Jesus through singing!

I took a video of the volunteers singing “Jesus Loves the Little Children” with the kids, but I am having trouble uploading it, so as soon as I get it up, I will post it so that you can enjoy the fun that we had! 

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Today was a change of pace for me, as I spent the day working up at our Ft Jacques property.  There are several volunteers who have been going up to the property with John regularly over the last couple weeks, and it was awesome to see the progress that they have made on the temporary guest house. 

I spent the day clearing out space in order to make room for the containers that should HOPEFULLY be coming out soon! 

It is always such a blessing for me to be up at the property and experience the beauty of God’s creation there.  For those of you who have been, you know what I’m talking about! 

Please pray for safety for John as he travels up the mountain to the property every day, and safety for everyone working and building there.  Please also continue to pray for our containers which are sitting in customs, that they would be released soon in order for us to start distributing supplies again!

Here are some pictures of the hard workers today!

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I just got back to GLA with a precious, tiny little bundle named Junes who is approximately one month old and weighs just 2 pounds 12 ounces.  A few days ago, we got a call from Real Hope for Haiti in Cazale asking us if we would be able to take him in for temporary care, so this morning, Ernst and I left and met up with Lori from Real Hope for Haiti at a gas station just outside of Bon Repos.   

Before we left there, Lori shared what she knew of Junes’ story.  She said that his mother is very sick, and since they live deep in the mountains, several people had carried her for a few days before they got to the rescue center on Sunday.  They actually came to Real Hope because of the mother and not because of Junes, but upon seeing him, the staff asked the family whether they would be willing to allow him to come to GLA temporarily in order for him to get fed properly and gain strength and health. The mother is so sick that she is not producing milk.  The father agreed, but felt uneasy about letting Junes go.  Lori promised him that Junes would be in very good care and that they would try to bring him here to visit Junes the next time that they drive out this direction. 

So from the gas station, we took Junes back to GLA.  His little body was so tiny in my arms, and I could feel his sharp elbows and knees through the blanket.  As we drove, I took that time to pray over him and lift this little guy up to the Lord.  I am so thankful that our Heavenly Father cares for these children so much more than we ever could!

Please pray for Junes, that he would gain weight and strength quickly and be able to be joined with his family again.  Pray also for Junes’ mother, that God would restore her to full health. 

Today as I was choosing songs to sing at our Wednesday night Bible study, I was drawn to the old hymn “What A Friend We Have in Jesus.”  The words to this song bring such comfort when dealing with day to day challenges and loneliness that we all face, and it was a song that I needed to sing tonight. 

It’s one of those songs that even though it has been around for ages, it is still so relevant to our lives as believers in Christ. As we sang tonight, it was so beautiful to hear all of our voices lifted up together, each with our own trials, temptations and burdens that we are carrying.  How precious and amazing to know that Jesus longs to be our Friend, a Friend like no other and that He wants nothing more than for us to bring our burdens to Him in prayer and leave them at His feet.   

I decided to post the words to this song tonight and I pray that it blesses you as much as it did me today.

What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear.
What a privilege to carry, everything to God in Prayer.
O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry, everything to God in Prayer.

Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful, who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge, take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? take it to the Lord in prayer;
in his arms He’ll take and shield thee, thou wilt find a solace there.

A picture is worth a thousand words…

Once a month is photo day here at GLA.  A day is scheduled each month both at the main house and the toddler house where every child gets photographed.  All pictures get saved in the child’s file, and Melanie (our Updates Coordinator) also uses these photos to send to the adoptive families with the monthly update on their child.   Once a child joins their forever family, the family receives a photo cd of all the child’s pictures from their time at GLA…what an amazing keepsake for them!

This morning we took pictures of the children and babies at the main house with an Easter theme for April.  The routine is that each volunteer brings up one child at a time from the nursery.  They clean their faces, lotion them up and change them into a nice outfit. Once a child is ready, they get brought over to the table where their picture gets taken.

Now, there are certain kids that are born to be photographed and they know just what to do. They could just sit there and smile for days.  Others, well, let’s just say that they need a bit more coaxing to get a smile out of them!  This is where the tambourines, pom poms, noise makers and tickles come in.  This gets to be my fun job….getting the kids to smile!  It’s definitely rewarding to get smiles out of the difficult ones, even if it means making a fool out of myself in the process!  Whatever it takes!   

 The result…..beautiful photos of the beautiful children at GLA! Here are just a few for you to enjoy!  (photos courtesy of Melanie)

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After volunteering here at GLA for the last 5 weeks, Angela leaves tomorrow and this is what she shared about her experience here.  God bless you Angela…thanks for giving of yourself to the kids!

What an honour it has been to be here in Haiti for the last 5 weeks. I am so blessed. I think that everyday there has been something that has stood out, but that would take probably 5 weeks for me to cover. I look forward to every morning, waking up knowing that soon I will hear the voices of the kids at the toddler house. The sounds of them out on their balconies, also excited for the day ahead. Most mornings, I am able to head out to the yard and with in 30 seconds I have scampering feet heading towards me! Then come the questions from the older ones "computer? computer?"  As I pick up the little one that has ran for me I answer "YES! computer today!" They get all excited and speak really quickly in creole. All I can do then is smile down at their beautiful faces.(need to work on my creole still)  I have had the joy of ‘teaching’ a computer class to some of the oldest kids at the toddler house for the last week and a half, and actually it is amazing to see the change! Some of them could not figure out the mouse, but they’ve got it now! We have so much singing along to the ABC’s or matching letters and colours on the games. 

Down at the main house it has been really wonderful to see the kids grow physically and in character.   Little ones that have moved from the nursery to the toddler house, and littler ones that have moved from the NICU to the nursery. I see them adjusting to their new surroundings but doing awesome!  Life on the balcony has been wonderful! We often have ventured out beyond the gates for a walk with some kids. There is so much beauty to see!  I have loved getting to know the ladies that work in the nursery and the NICU. They are all such amazing women with stories of their own. One of the Nannies translates for me and so I get to know the ladies each a little bit. 

I have had so many laughs here and so many amazing moments that I will remember for a life time. I have seen things change while I am here, I’ve seen projects get accomplished, walls get painted, bins get sorted and so many faces come and go.  Now it is my time to go. I will not forget the faces I have met and the joys that I have felt in meeting each one of them.  I hope and pray that I am meant to return here. Again, I say I am so blessed, Haiti has been a wonderful experience of a life time.Angela

One of our volunteers, Dave (Australia) shared this about the fun they had with the kids today…

With the hot weather increasing this week, after lunch today we decided to fill up the pool & have a pool party on the balcony. With all the children not fitting in the one pool we filled up some tubs with water as well. We headed down to the nursery and brought up all the children who were not sleeping.

All the children had a great time & all really enjoyed having water poured over their heads and faces.  Was brilliant to see them smiling and laughing all in a group.

Sunny and in the pool only a few hours ago and now it’s raining.

Dave told me after dinner he wasn’t sure who had more fun…the kids or the volunteers!

If you have been reading Dixie’s blog, you may have read about Jerrensia.  If you haven’t, I would love to introduce her to you!  Jerrensia is a beautiful, five month old little girl. She is so content, and rarely cries.  Smiles come easily to her gorgeous face! 

Jerrensia was born on November 7/09 and came to GLA on February 6 of this year.   Her mother brought her to us and gave her up for adoption.  Jerrensia’s father was killed during the earthquake, and her mother has another child to care for as well.  Since the earthquake, she has been living on the street, and just felt like she couldn’t care for both of the children anymore.  So, she made the sacrificial decision that many parents make in this country, and decided to bring Jerrensia to God’s Littlest Angels and leave her in our care, trusting that she will have a chance at a better life than what she can offer.  Jerrensia’s mother clearly loves her, as she comes here regularly to visit and hold her.  

Jerrensia is also special in the fact that she has a deformity in her legs from the knees down where her legs and feet are twisted. 

We aren’t sure exactly what her condition is and we know that she was born this way.  She doesn’t seem to be in pain, and she doesn’t have much movement in her legs or feet.  If I tickle her feet, or lightly pinch her leg, she doesn’t flinch. 

I have recently started spending one on one time each day with Jerrensia and God has filled me with so much love and compassion for her.  I pray each day that God would touch her and heal her, as I know He is capable of doing!  We are also hoping to get Jerrensia out to the United States on a medical visa once the government starts issuing these again.  So whether God chooses to heal her with His own touch, or whether His plan is to use a surgical doctor to do it, I am excited to see how God will work in Jerrensia’s life and receive all the glory!

Please pray with me for Jerrensia…pray that God would heal her legs and also that God would be preparing the perfect forever family for her so that once adoptions open up again, that she would be able to be united with a family who will love her and share God’s love with her! 

If you come to Haiti, one thing you are guaranteed to see are cockroaches!  And everyone once in awhile, it’s time to fumigate the house for them.  Today was the day! 

All dishes need to be pulled out of the cupboard and covered, computers get shut down, and everyone needs to make themselves scarce for a few hours. 

This also means that all of the children need to be taken out of the nurseries and brought up to the balcony to escape the fumes!  This is definitely a team effort, as nannies, nurses and volunteers are all needed to lend a helping hand.   Diaper changing supplies need to be on hand, bottle making stations set up, and bread, peanut butter and juice available for lunch.  Now, I need to add, that when we did this last year in October, we had about 95 children and today, we had 33.  What a difference!  After surviving a day with that many kids on the balcony last year, today felt like a breeze! 

October

April

This whole process takes about 5 hours from set-up on the balcony, to bringing the children up, being on the balcony while the spraying occurs, waiting for the fumes to die down, sweeping up the roaches (after the spraying, the cockroaches all crawl out to the middle of the room and then flip over and die on their backs, which makes for easy clean-up!), and then bringing the children back down.  I just got back to my computer, and I am exhausted!  I am pretty sure that I could put my head down on my desk and sleep right now.  But, it was a fun day!  For the most part, the children were very happy…I mean who wouldn’t be, when every where they looked, there was either a nanny or a willing volunteer to play with them or hold them!  The kids were in their glory for five hours with all the toys they could ever want at their reach, swings, cars to be pushed in, books read to them, and laps to sit in when they were ready for a break.  And when they were tired enough, a few of them just plunked themselves down on a mat or blanket and had a nap!  And I’m sure the kids (and adults!) will all sleep well tonight!

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