Damien Lepoutre

I did know that we all shared the same call to be disciples of Jesus at CGLC, and I could see so much grace in our community.
But I couldn’t dream about friends so mindful and sensitive of the others and with such huge hearts.
How good it was to get to know them better and deepen our friendship through this mission!
I was happy with this opportunity offered by Mission of Hope to serve and spend time with Dominicans and Haitians that were different from me in so many ways. I knew I would learn something from them for my faith journey and I hoped to bring something to them in their sometimes difficult life conditions.
We provided financial resources to pay for material and offered our manpower to help paint a pastor’s house and build bathrooms for a church.
But everything else was to go "their way”. It was not for us to organize the work despite the numerous skills and experience that existed in our team: it is their place and their project, and I learned humility and patience the hard way to accept what I felt were inefficiencies.
Luckily, the work with the kids was different when they were authorized to participate: they so much wanted to learn and spend the energy of their small bodies in some hard work like carrying sand and gravel. Such a team work and friendship development that ended with playing basketball, sharing my sandwich, and them inviting me to clean all the accumulated mud in their home. Verbal communication whether in English, French or my poor Spanish was very difficult, so connections and exchanges were only through sharing activities and exchanging smiles, hugs, laughs and signs.
I am so used to talk ask question and listen to get to know each other, that I was very surprised to feel so much pain and sorrow at the end of this short journey together ; stronger pain also because no way to share words, feelings and ideas apart from signs and hugs with these kids. I know almost nothing about who they are, their past and present life, but patience and time helped be more attentive to reactions and signs and hence develop bonds and feelings in a different in-depth friendship. So hard to leave the lovely people and feel I will very probably only see them in our next life!It was a week of slowly “being with”, and I could feel the spirit of Jesus floating around.
This spirit was also so very present during the evening celebrations: I was moved to see interns so much carried and driven by their deep faith that burst into their song and prayers.
So much beauty of God in the faces and smiles of these kids and interns that I can carry with me now!