The day, for me (Shane Burgett), started off amazingly! Not only was it the first night I slept in CLEAN cloths do to the fact we had just gotten our luggage the day before, but I woke up early that morning to simply have some “slow” time. Once a typical day got started there was always something that could be done. Sure, there were times throughout the day that we sat down and took a much needed break, but it seemed our breaks consisted of water, shade, and thinking about all that still needed to get done. I wanted to have some time, where I did not have to think about what was coming next.
I woke up before the day had. Most everyone was still asleep and there was literally nothing else to do, except take it slow and appreciate the present. I went into the school and had some awesome time alone with my Savior.
At one point of enjoying my solitude, David walked in. The cool thing is that what was “my” solitude turned into “our” solitude. We both sat there, bodies present, but our minds where beyond this world. After a while, conversation struck and we started talking about what God has been doing in our hearts since this trip began. What a blessing it was to sit there, and simply be the Body of Christ. I walked away from that time charged and excited to tackle that day’s challenges!
After breakfast, our morning basically consisted of spending time with the children. This group seemed fluent in these kids’ universal language…playtime! The girls played jump rope, blew bubbles, and colored, while the guys just did what guys do best…goof off!
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| Attempting to master the art of jumping rope. |
I spent a good amount of the morning filming these different things. At one point I was filming Josh playing with some kids. I remember thinking about the time, earlier in the trip, Josh had mentioned how he missed playing with his son James. As I was filming him, it hit me that he was loving these kids just like if they where James. He honestly was loving these kids like if they where his own. That made an impression on me. At times I’m rather awkward with kids (might be due to my towering height) but I could see that Josh was simply showing them love and they understood. God really showed me there that it was not about what I did with the kids, it was the heart I did it with. These kids really did not care what you did with them. They just wanted love. I knew I needed to get over this “awkwardness” and just love… and God would use me, like he was using Josh with those few boys.
Well, after lunch we gave the missionaries, Greg and Jasmine, the supplies we had packed into our luggage. Prior to coming on this trip, we had found out that Kimberly Felix from Circle had actually been to this orphanage before! She was able to fill us in with what the orphanage was really in need of and we made it a point to get as many supplies as we could. Greg and Jasmine where quite surprised and blessed! It’s amazing how so little can go so far when it’s truly needed.
Around 3pm we started hitting up the manual labor! It’s funny, but everyday at 3pm the sky would fill up with clouds and we would have several hours of protection from the merciless sun. The days prior we would work under the shining sun, and found our productivity to be quite disappointing due to the amount of heat and excess sun. These few hours where very valuable because we could typically do at least four times the amount of work. The guys hit up digging trenches and the girls started organizing the food tent.
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| Digging trenches as the afternoon clouds roll in. |
During this trench digging, we guys ended up talking most of the time about chess. You see, chess was the “thing” down there for most of the guys. Due to it being ridiculously hot, we had no desire for playing any kind of sports, thus we still needed an outlet for our competitive natures. We needed some sort of competition. Well, now I understand why chess is considered a “sport”. It can sure become a pretty intense sport! It was just a fun time, because I remember being as a child, listening to Donnie share strategies, incites, and stories about chess. You see, Donnie had really taken it seriously before Haiti, and had been part of clubs and even read a book on it. Why that stands out, I’m not sure, but it was a blast and trench digging seemed to go much faster that day!
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| Donnie and Rigan locked in an intense game of chess. |