Jeannette was the one who brought me to tears

From the Wayback Machine: With Jeannette and Monice
in the old Guest House on Jan 29, 2010
On this trip, I was struck by how much I valued people who have been with Child Hope for a long time. I especially felt this way toward the staff members. Haitian employees and American interns can come and go, and that’s why the people who are “old reliables” mean so much. This trip I felt so much appreciation for those people who were there before I started visiting Haiti (May 2009) and are still there, going strong.

Through all the goodbyes at the end of the trip, I didn’t cry. One of the older boys even asked me, "Why aren't you crying?" :-) It wasn’t until the very end that I teared up, and it was Jeannette, one of the cooks, who got to me. She has been with Child Hope for years, and she is a fixture at the Guest House. She comes in every morning with a cheerful attitude, and she loves to serve. Some mornings she is heavy hearted because a family member is sick (her grandson was sick the whole time we were there). Other days she might not have slept well. It doesn’t seem to matter. She’s full of love and hospitality anyway. The joy of God emanates from her.

At one point while we were praying with the staff right before we got into the truck to drive to the Port-au-Prince airport, I looked over at Jeannette. I saw her absorbed in prayer, just as I have seen so many times before. That was when I started to cry. Now, I’m a dude, so I will be quick to tell you I only cried a little. But it did happen.

I think about how Paul indicated in his letters to the churches how much he appreciated faithful coworkers in the gospel. That’s what I thought about as I looked at Jeannette. God bless that saint!

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