Lumiere du Christ took the stage, the
orphan singers known from the Bondye Bel video.
They stood in an unbalanced semi-circle on stage, dressed in some of
their best clothes. The girls wore
skirts and the boys all wore long pants.
Merline had on a bright orange top, Schinaydrie a pretty green one. Kenkenn wore a clean white t-shirt. Saint Foy was in a shirt with a collar,
untucked with style. They looked a bit
uncomfortable on stage, keeping their eyes focused on each other or the walls
of the back of the church. There was no
fanfare or introduction. They had no
background music either, but they began their first song with precision and
when they opened their mouths I got chills.
“Lord I Surrender” rang out clear
and crisp--the nearly 100 children in the David Nicholas Chapel sat motionless,
listening to every word. Time seemed to
slow as I took it all in. Such beautiful
voices praising God on pitch, in unison.
So many children transfixed on the kids on stage, taking it all in
without moving or making a sound. I
looked around at our team--some had beaming smiles, others had their eyes
closed and hands raised in worship, and there were even some tears of joy. We were seeing a glimpse of the vision of
ESMI come to reality—the orphans that were saved were leading worship, serving
God and becoming a part of the plan to reach others in Haiti—saved to
serve. It was a special moment.
The orphans sang a few more songs with style. “Syel La” was as mesmerizing as “Lord I
Surrender”. Kettley took the microphone
and led them in another song. After
singing, they took a seat and listened to the Bible Story. Following the Bible story, they went to the
cafeteria building with us to help with crafts and snacks. They jumped right in passing out supplies and
helping kids complete their crafts. When
snack time came, they grabbed the snacks and made sure each kid got one. It dawned on me how far these kids that had
come, many coming from a life on the streets, scrapping for food to survive,
now eagerly passing out food to others, making sure each child there got a
snack. They were so happy to be involved
serving with us. As we concluded the
program for the day, our team joined hands with the orphan leaders and circled
the kids in the room. Saint Foy took the
microphone and led the closing prayer. It
was another goosebump moment. We were so
proud of those kids—not just their singing talent but their serving
hearts. You could see the impact they
were having as the local kids watched them sing and serve.
We took group pictures of them outside and gave hugs and high fives as
they got back on the bus to go back to the orphanage. As we walked back down the hill to the
guesthouse, our hearts were full of wonder and amazement at God’s grace and
marvelous plan—not only saving these children Haiti didn’t want, but including
them and using their beautiful voices and brilliant smile to be a part of His
plan to save Haiti. We felt privileged
to witness it. And as I reflect on that
thought, I realize that I’m in the same boat as these orphans. Apart from Christ, I have nothing to offer
the world. He not only chose to save me but to include me
in His plan to reach the world and save the lost. Now that’s Amazing Grace!
