Three Angels

Our church has partnered with Three Angels in Petionville, Haiti since 2008 {pre-earthquake}. There have been a few missionaries from our church that have made the sacrifice to be the onsite managers at the Three Angels location in Haiti. These have been my friends: Dr. Jack, Marcia, and Abbey. I have had a strong desire to visit ever since they were on location. This week, though they are not there anymore, I got my chance.

Before my trip, I was dreading the extreme heat, giant misquotes, and a general fear of the unknown. I was amazed at what I found!

I found Sandy, the current onsite house manager - full of kindness and a true servant's heart. Right away, she felt like family. I miss her already! She was quick to make popcorn, pizza, coconut chocolate cake, or whatever treat you might want {although Pastor Dave did not get the lobster bisque that he teased her about all week *wink*}. she kept the refrigerator stocked full of Coca Cola, which tasted mighty fine after a day in the sun!

I found the Jean-Louis family: Madam Valet and her children, Vastine, Stanley, Jean Darc and {last but not least} Edson. They serve in the compound in many different ways, but they mostly dish out love. Again, I instantly loved them and truly felt like I was with family. It is obvious they are brothers and sisters in Christ, so we are truly family. They love the Lord and they genuinely love others.

I found Alex, the fantastic teachers and the school children. Alex and the teachers are very professional. They take their job of training the children in their studies and in the ways of the Lord very serious. They also feed the children each day {and for some this is the only meal they will eat that day}. The children were testing this week so they were not all there each day {test days separated by age}, but there were still a lot of children. They all wore their uniforms, and though they were quick to play kick the can {or whatever they could find} during break, but they were just as quick to pay attention during the classroom time. They were full of smiles, hugs, high fives and even kisses.

I found babies - some of the cutest babies I have ever seen {next to my own daughters}. For various reasons, they are not able to be cared for by their parents, so they join the family at Three Angels. And it is a family indeed. The nannies love the babies! Vastine cares for the babies as a therapist. She monitors their development and loves on them to reduce any chances of attachment disorders. She {and the nannies} have done a great job. These babies, even the sickest one, Comerson, were full of smiles! They quickly won my heart and I loved every second I spent there! I could have held those babies all day, especially Lovely {her name describes her perfectly - she is definitely lovely}. I love her beautiful face and the way she wanted to talk so much {as much as she can at less than 3 months}. Melts my heart!

What I found was a family at Three Angels. I found friends that welcomed me in with open arms and gave me a gift much greater than I could have ever hoped to have given. They shared their homes, lives, children and love with me and I am forever grateful. I will definitely be visiting again and following the blog to see how my new friends are doing.

So the heat was not unbearable, the mosquitoes weren't a problem at all and I never felt in any danger. The things I feared were non-existent, but Haiti {and especially Three Angels} now occupies a piece of my heart. I see why my friends decided to stay much longer than one week.