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Haiti 2011: June Seventh

We played soccer near the ocean this morning. We got there around 5:30 or so, but the sun was already up. the kids are serious about their game, and show it emotionally. The ride to and from the game (and the game of tag we played) was almost as fun as the game itself. There were several of us in the back of our pick-up truck, holding on as we sped past motorcyclists or tap-taps at forty-five miles an hour (or so it felt). The wind was soothing.

Our work for the day was two-fold: we spent most of it weeding around the playground, which looked so much more like professional landscaping when we finished. It was, I think, more challenging than yesterday because it wasn't as easy to see your progress compared to painting, work that is very evident as your progress. Afterward, at around 3:30, we took care of the children as the nannies attended a women's service at church. After a time, Corey and I took responsibility for the preschoolers. This was bad, at first. A few of the boys wanted to leave their part of the building to play on the playground downstairs, and one in particular started to kick and punch when I blocked him from leaving (there was no one there to watch them). Then, when he started punching and kicking another boy, I took hold of him and laid him in a back room as he screamed in anger. Things were easier later when we went downstairs to let them play.

In the evening, we held our second study. Not everyone attended, but it was still fairly open. I learned that prayer can change the person praying just as it can help to change the person being prayed for. God allows us to take part in his work of influencing others for good, but in the process, our perspective begins to change. We tend to pay more attention to that person.

On a more personal note, I'm holding my own socially, I suppose, but I'm beginning to draw into myself more than in previous days. I have to be conscious of my tendency to draw back, and work through it. My prayer is that God will make me conscious of something-- good or bad-- that will take back to the U.S., something that I can work to encourage or fight. I also want to continue to pray for a particular family member.

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