100 days of school and clean feet!

It's official! On Tuesday we made it to 100 days of school... and we're still kickin'! :)

I feel so thankful for this 'century' of days that I've spent with my students and for the way we've grown to be in sync with one another. Like I expressed in my last post, I feel very fortunate to teach these children, and everyday I spend with them I feel like I get a little closer to the teacher that the Lord called me to be. Thank you for your continual prayers for the children as we move into these months of spring and look ahead to summer.

As a part of our 100th day celebrations, we also took a field trip on Thursday to Haiti's National Museum in Port-au-Prince. We got to see lots of ancient artifacts, including the original anchor from the Santa Maria ship which was sailed by Christopher Colombus, and a crown worn by one of Haiti's first king's. The tour guide walked us through Haiti's history, beginning with the discovery of the island, all the way through the slavery and oppression and leading up to the freedom that the Haitian's have today. During this time, I was reminded again about the blessing of freedom and despite the poor living conditions that Haitian's live in, they have pride in their liberty as a free nation. 

Unfortunately we were not able to take pictures inside the museum, so I can't show you any close up's of what we saw, but below is a picture of the us on the roof of the museum.

Afterwards, we took a lunch stop at Domino's pizza, Haiti's only American food chain restaurant, which was definitely a highlight for the kids and for me! Oh, and I think I found myself a weekend job... When we left the restaurant, we followed a delivery boy out into the parking lot, who placed the hot pizza bag into a small 'Domino's Pizza' thermos box which was mounted on his motorcycle, and headed out into the streets to deliver.... Both the kids and I raved about how we would love a job like that! :)

Another highlight of my week happened way back on Sunday last weekend, during the evening service. A church team from North Carolina that arrived last Saturday had planned to hold a feetwashing service on Sunday evening, and although none of them had ever done it before, it turned out to be such a blessing for the people who attended, and for all of us who went to serve. I was actually more of just a tag-along and did what I could to help set up and assist with organizing the distribution of shoes. It was really cool the way that they did it by the ladies of the team washing the church ladies' feet, and the guys of the team washing the gentlemans' feet on the other side of the church. After a brief devotional from one of the team leaders, they began washing feet, and reading a special blessing to each person after they were finished. Then, as an added bonus, every person got to put their newly cleaned feet into a new pair of Crocs (the shoes were shipped earlier in the year on a container by the company and we've been distributing them ever since). I was really touched as I watched the feetwashing take place, and my heart was warmed by the way that this team really blessed the church congregation. 

And the coolest part of all is that at the end of the service, after all of the men and women had left with their new footwear, one of the ladies from the team came up to me and asked if she could wash my feet. It was quite a surprise for me, but as I sat on the bench and she began to pour water over my dusty feet, I couldn't help but think about our church feetwashing tradition at Easter. 

This will be the first year since I can remember that I will not be at the feetwashing service at church. It makes me sad because it's something that I always love to be a part of and share with our church family. However, the Lord really blessed me during that moment as if he was reminding me how he always provides abundantly more than I expect. In a few weeks you will be gathering for the feetwashing service and partaking in the love feast, but the Lord already looked after me and gave me clean feet here in Haiti. I'm amazed at how He always blesses me exceedingly beyond what I expect, and it's in moments like last Sunday that I know that I can surrender the rest of my concerns to Him as well. There are still a lot of unanswered questions about what unfold next year, and I appreciate your prayers in this area as well. I don't want to worry my time away here, because I know that the Lord has the best plan, but I've always been focussed on planning my next steps, so it's an area where I need the strength to surrender. If He cares enough to provide the daily blessings that lift me up, then certainly He cares about the bigger picture and where I fit in all of it. May I be open to whatever doors await.