Nanny Blessings

Tyson (Ange's son) helping assemble the Nanny gift bags.
Char and Kim during Nanny gift bag assembly

Praying over each Nanny

More prayers for each Nanny individually

Picture of Karla helping organize the delivery of gifts and prayer to the Nannies

One of the Nannies after receiving her dress, shoes, and gift bag. It must be a custom that many Haitians do not smile for photo's. However, do not be fooled. They were so warm and receptive for not only the gifts but also the prayer and we received many smile, hugs, and even kisses.

So I kind of jumped in on the mission trip at the last minute. It was being organized by Karla and Ange for the past year or so. I heard that a lot of their focus was on showing God's love to the nannies and doing all they can to show them love, appreciation, and even gently ways to better care for our waiting children. One team even taught baby massage and I heard they were very receptive to that. I have to admit, I was thrilled at the idea's and thought they were wonderful and so excited they would be done, but if I were to be honest my complete focus was my great love for the older children of NLL and HFC so I decide that while a majority of the team would be spending time with the nannies and babies, I really wanted to be with the teens, but God had different plans for me. :)

We were all asked to bring some small gift for the gift bags of the 30 or so Nannies. I had no idea what to bring. Just days before the trip a neighbor that I did not even know had decided to end her days as a Mary Kay Consultant. I asked her if she had any samples I could have for the Nannie gifts. She loaded me up with samples, lotions, make-up... so many great gifts. However, because my suitcases did not arrive before the Nanny bags were assembled they were not added. But I did get to go through on one of the last days and seek out the Nannies and give them yet another gift and that was fun too. They were very excited about the make-up. THEN the older girls got their hands on the large remaining amount and it was a Mary Kay party like never before!!! :) I wish I had more pictures but that was just around the time my camera was running out of battery and there was not electricity to charge it.

Sorry, back to the Nanny gifts: The Nannies were at first very resistant to coming down to the room we set up for them. With the help of our son Jacques (translating for us) we were able to get just one of the nannies to the room. We gave her the gift bag, she got to pick out a dress, or skirt and shirt, and shoes. We then took her picture and then Karla, Ange, and I prayed over her before she left. She went back up with her gifts and that's all it took for the Nannies to start pouring into the room!!! They were so excited about each gift, having their picture taken and all most all of them were extremely receptive to our praying for each of them! Karla, Ange, and I would take turns praying out loud for each Nanny while the others would pray along agreeing. Have you ever felt God's presence so strong that you get chills and have to fight back the tears? That's how it was. Ange, Karla, and I were barely getting through the prayers as we fought tears and the heaviness of God's presence in the room was certainly felt by all! We prayed asking God to bless them, bless the hands that care for so many children, let them know how loved and appreciated they are, and so much more. Most of the prayers ended with the Nannies giving us each a hug and kiss on the cheek and a big thank you. It was not only one of the greatest experiences during our time in Haiti but one of the greatest experiences of my life. God is so real and was so present! It's so great when you try to bless someone else and instead the blessing is poured out on you 100 fold! God's so good! If anyone's reading this has ever doubted if there really is a God I encourage you to ask Him to show Himself to you. I've experienced His presence in such a strong way so many times in my life that I could not ever imagine questioning His existence. He promises if we seek Him we will find Him. If you have not already done so... seek Him today and He will show Himself to you and you can always be absolutely certain that He is so very real and experience the great joy and love from knowing Him!