Swiney Family Update…Day 5 & 6

Day 5 Update:

Happy Friday from Haiti!!!! We had another really great day today. We did our “Pouring Love Into” ministry for some of the orphanage mommas this morning and we were so blessed. I told them I can’t wait until we see each other in Heaven and we all speak the same language!   It’s going to be awesome! I love these women so much & I know we would have so much to talk about if we could understand each other!!! Emily & I hugged them and kissed them and said “Merci” to them over and over. We had the translator tell them thank you for loving the kids and taking such great care of them.

This afternoon, we worked in the pharmacy sorting bottles and pulling labels off.   After that we helped build the new church!!!! This was another amazing experience!!! No bulldozer, no cranes, no backhoes…. Just lots and lots of hard work BUT some of the best times you could ever imagine. Right now, they’re building the foundation. I say building because it is not poured, it is built! A trench has been dug by hand, then concrete is mixed by hand, steel supports are made by hand. Then when the supports are put into the ground, rocks of all sizes are put in around it, then concrete is poured in around the rocks. It’s amazing to watch and participate in! Our job was to carry the big rocks to the edge of the foundation hole. We had so much fun and I kept thinking of the parable of the houses built on rock and sand and how this church will be here for so many years to come because of it’s foundation. It’s an honor to partner with God here in Haiti.

Tonight we are going to love on the orphans again so it will be another great night! We love and miss you all. We talked about you today, Elizabeth, and hope you are doing great and staying busy!

Much love,

Karen & Emily

Day 6 Update:

Preskul take two…. This morning we had our second chance at going to Preskul which was just as amazing as it was the first time in December! When we arrived we were greeted with friendly smiles, and little kids wanting love and attention. Shortly after arrival the kids led us to a covered gathering where we did a lesson with them about Jonah and the Whale which included a reading of the story from a Creole kids Bible and a coloring sheet which the kids and adults both enjoyed, painted nails, jumped rope, and played dominoes (these games are always very exciting)!

After arriving back at the Mole we began helping (carrying water buckets for the concrete mixture back and forth) with the church that is being built here on campus. Like my mom has said this truly is an amazing process. No machinery, just hard work. The construction workers have been working on the foundation since Thursday, and are already saying they should be pouring the floor in the next week.

The next thing on today’s schedule was taking the orphans to the beach. This was a very fun, but also slightly intimidating experience… The fun part being having fun with all of the kids and watching them play in the sand. The intimidating part being that some of the kids being a little too confident in their swimming skills. However, they all did an awesome job and our afternoon was filled with sandy, salty water fun!

As our ocean adventures came to an end we walked back to the campus where we are now watching Toy Story 2 with the orphans and some of the staff kids, eating popcorn and enjoying the beautiful night.

Miss & love you, Sissy & Ellie!

-Emily