Today I was off to an early start. I awakened around 5:30 am. I got dressed and went over to see what Veronique had created for breakfast today. She prepared french toast, fresh fruit, and the best fresh squeezed lemonade ever. After breakfast we had a short devotion led by Jason, then we loaded up the truck and headed off to the Bel-Air clinic.
Upon arrival at the clinic we were amazed at the number of people waiting to be cared for. They seem like they had been there a long time already. At 9:00 am it was already hot and as you looked around the room, the children were silent and very little talking was happening amongst the patients. When you think about hospital waiting rooms, usually if children are present there’s some playfulness, or joy when children see one another, or something. The parents usually interact with one another discussing their children, etc. Here everyone sat silently and just waited. 
We brought in the shelves we built, put the backs on some existing shelves, and helped load the medicines on the shelves. so the pharmacy would no longer have medication sitting on pews or tables.
After leaving the clinic, we went to an orphanage. This was one of the most difficult visits for everyone. We saw many kids. I think some of the workers thought we were there to adopt kids because they brought children out for us to look at. We were only there to see the facility. The kids had triple bunk beds, they seemed to fed decently, and generally pleasant despite their condition. One boy really broke our hearts, Ulrick. His eye had become detached and was dangling from the socket. Dr Spalding was with us and said that his eye would need to be removed by an opthamologist, which are few and far between here. Mrs. Hobson wants to make sure she does everything possible to try and get some medical attention for the young man. I wish I knew an opthamologist that wanted to volunteer some time to come down here and help out. Andre said he would be sure to follow up and ensure that Ulrick gets the care he needs.
After leaving the orphanage, we went to drown our sadness in ice cream and milk shakes. We went to a place called Hot -n Fresh. The ice cream was pretty good. I tried grenadine ice cream. After leaving the ice cream parlor, we headed back to the Heart to Heart facility and had dinner.
After dinner, we had devotions. Rev. Sherri asked us to think about scriptures that came to us throughout the day.
Mr. Hobson came up with two scriptures. The first scripture, 2 Samuel 24, made him think of what he could do to bring someone to another mission trip to Haiti.
The second scripture was about the story of Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego. This story reminds him of how the people of Haiti have been thrown into the fire, and they get up everyday, brush the ashes off, praise God, and go about their day. He wants to continue to be a blessing and impact Haiti.
Jason went next and shared his thoughts about James 1:27. He thought it was pretty beautiful to see the folks at the clinic and the orphanage caring for the kids.
Mrs. Hobson had two scriptures: The first, Thessalonians 3:17, which makes her think about all the things that the people go through here in Haiti and it just makes her pray continuously about their situation. Then she thought about the scripture, “Jesus wept,” when she saw the boy at the orphanage that was losing his eye and what he must be going through.
Mrs. Smith-Keene also had two scriptures. Her first scripture was something like “even when the least of these…” It made her think about the work we were doing and the people we were helping. Her second scripture was Colossians 3:23-24 which made her think that even though you may not think about doing things, you do them because you need to do them.
Andre’s scripture was Luke 10:1-2. His thoughts were, “it comes to mind that there is no lack of opportunity to do God’s work.”
My scripture was 2 Chronicles 30:18-20. It makes me think about the religious transition that has been happening in Haiti and how God will help heal the people whether or not they are believers.
Rev. Sherri’s scripture was “Jesus wept.” Her thoughts were that Jesus must look out over his people in Haiti and weep. He sees people living better in other parts of the world and not doing anything to help the ones that aren’t. She had another which was Luke 19:40-44.
To close out the discussion, Rev. Sherri wants us to continue to think, “Where are we in all this?” What are we doing after we leave here?
Mr. Hobson had a great quote from Zig Ziglar, “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.”
After devotion, we sat around listening to Dr. Spalding’s stories and I helped Mrs. Hobson setup Skype on her laptop.
