VBS in Springfield

It has been a busy, busy week! I have hardly had a moment to catch my breath with all of the excitement that has been going on. I have been the Lifeline representative at a church in Springfield this week for their VBS. This has consisted of me speaking to the children every morning about Haiti. They were trying to raise $2,000 to buy 20 new desks for the children in Haiti because theirs were destroyed in the earthquake when their classrooms collapsed (this will give 60 children somewhere to sit in school). They also want to raise an additional $500 to ship 2,000 pounds of food to Haiti. A lot of relief food has been donated but it costs money to send it to Haiti. So every morning I have been talking to the children about the children in Haiti, helping them to see how their lives are different and similar than those of the Haitian children. Every morning I spend a little time with the kindergarten and pre-K group, then a little time with the 1st through 6th graders, and finish with some time with the 3 and 4 year olds. At the closing program every morning I find out how much the kids have raised and let them know how many new desks they have bought.
The kids have far exceeded my expectations. They exceeded their goal by $800. Their total was $3300 which means that they raised enough money to buy 20 desks and ship 5200 pounds of food. They were excited and I was excited!
It has been a joy to watch the excitement of the children. I have taught them a few French words and every day they greet me with “bonjour Miss Heather.” Their parents have told me several stories about how determined they are every morning to bring in their offering to buy new desks. One girl had it in her mind that she was going to take the desks to Haiti-a missionary at 5 years old! After VBS every morning they seek me out and ask me questions wanting to know more about the kids in Haiti.
This has also been a great week because I have been able to reunite with a group of ladies I was good friends with in Haiti. We had met at the airport on the way to Haiti and they befriended me right away. I hadn’t seen any of them since we parted ways at the airport and it has been great to see them. I have stayed with one of them a couple of nights this week and I have had numerous lunch dates with a few of them. It was been great checking up with them and talking with people that I shared the experience with.
I am living a nomadic life as you might call it, lol, since arriving in Columbus. I have now stayed with three different people in the course of my three weeks here. Every house has been different but I continue to be amazed at the generosity of the people that have opened their homes to me and allowed me to be a part of their lives for a while. Many people in the church in Springfield have also offered a place to stay for me because it is a long way from Columbus. I have returned two days this week to work in the office but stayed Tuesday so that I could talk with a group of ladies about Lifeline and Friday night for the closing program on Friday.
It has been a busy week but it has been great to talk to the kids and connect them with the kids and Haiti and watch them make a difference in the lives of children who need help still for a long time.