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I was really quite nervous about going to Cite Soliel. It was my second trip to Haiti and every Haitian that we told about going to Cite Soliel either shook their heads or told us not to go. We arrived in Cite Soliel in a very short time. It's close to the airport in Port-au-Prince. The tap tap driver drove us out to a pier and we looked around. It was devastating. The smoke was so thick in the city; it was hard to breath and hard to see. The heat and the smell of raw sewage and body odor made the air feel thick in my lungs. At one point, I thought I'd pass out. But I knew God wanted me there and within a few minutes, I adjusted.

I asked Simon, one of the Haitians traveling with us, why there was so much smoke and he said he couldn't talk about it there. Later he told me that when someone is killed, they burn the houses down. Thus the continual smoke. That, and there are mountains of garbage that are constantly smoldering.

We were going to walk into a heavily congested area of houses, but were warned by some not to walk so far in the city. So we drove down some streets not much wider than the tap tap we were in. The houses were so close together it was shocking. They had common walls between the small houses made of what looked like limestone cement. There was another area that was shack after shack made of corrugated steel. Some were made of cardboard and pressed garbage. There was sewage in the streets and some green liquid that looked like antifreeze that was pouring into the front openings of some of the houses. There is a large river that used to run through the city. Now it is filled with raw sewage and garbage. There are children, hundreds of children that play in the sewage river. They run around naked, or with very little on, and most have swollen bellies.

The whole time we were riding around in the tap tap, I was praying that the Lord would guide us where we needed to go. To show us just what and who we were supposed to see. We went down a long narrow street and the secret service man that was with us told the driver to stop. He wanted to take pictures for me on my camera. The tap tap stopped and there were half of a dozen boys that were eyeing us cautiously and talking to the secret service man while he took photos. Samantha got out and I got out of the tap tap then. Within minutes a crowd of about 100 people surrounded us. We both felt complete peace and safety. We both felt under the covering of the Lord. Neither one of us said as much, but God gives this unbelievable communication in times like that. I knew I was supposed to be there that day. So did Sam.

The Haitians in the tap tap were watching God work and I knew they were touched by what was happening. The people were all accepting of us and wanting to talk to us. As soon as the people knew we were of no harm, they crowded around. There were so many families; I couldn't even begin to count, begging us to please take their children. They were saying that it's so unsafe and that they have no money; no way to feed their children. The secret service man asked me if I wanted to help them. I told him I did, but that I had no money to give them. He took down some names and addresses.

Then my life utterly changed. There was this little girl, all in braids and a worn out dress. She had the saddest look on her face. She was about six years old and the sweetest little thing in the world. I talked to her in broken Creole and she started to smile. I must have been slaughtering the language! When she smiled, the whole city lit up. I asked her if she would want to come to America. She said she wanted to, but that she couldn't leave her little brother. He looked to be two or three. I knelt down and held her hand and we talked for a few minutes. The whole world disappeared. All that mattered was that I was there with her and could tell her that everything in her life would be okay. I knew God would see to it.

Samantha watched and I know she saw what I saw. For such a huge crowd, it was silent. There wasn't any noise at all. It was the Lord. He spoke to me in that moment and said, "For such a time as this, I've brought you to this place." I had chills in the 100-degree heat. I knew He brought me from San Jose, California, to Haiti, on that day, with that group of people, down that particular street, to meet that little girl. I took pictures of her but didn't need to. She is etched in my mind and I will never forget her. I need to get back to Haiti to make good on my promise. I need to find some way to help that little girl and her family.

We got back in the tap tap and the secret service man asked us if we wanted to go anywhere else. I couldn't even speak. As we left the city, the people we met were following our tap tap down the narrow street. They were all shouting. The secret service man said that they were saying, "We love you, Americans. Thank you for coming to see us. Thank you that you want to help us." That was all it took. The secret service man looked at me and said, "What's wrong with you? There is something wrong with your eyes." He didn't understand tears.

There was a lady I met at the grocery store a couple of days before we went to Cite Soliel. I had Annikah (my Haitian daughter) with me and she asked me, in very good English, if I was adopting. I said yes and was braced for her to be upset with me. She smiled and said, "This is a very good thing. We are a very poor country and it is good that you are willing to take our children and give them a hope. All I can do is tell you that I'm grateful to you for helping my people. I can't give you anything at all." I said, "You just did."

I thought that I left a big part of my heart in Haiti when I was there in May. I had no idea how much more of my heart I'd leave this last trip. I've been avoiding sharing all of this, as I've been afraid that in some way, it would take away the power of what happened. But it isn't true. What God did in Haiti is still just as alive in my heart as when it was happening. I didn't see this side of the story until now, but I know God wants to use this to encourage all of us. If God can take this backwards, middle aged, suburban mom of seven to Cite Soliel, Haiti one hot afternoon for the purpose of giving that little girl a promise, and so much more, He WILL overcome every single obstacle, great and small, in our lives, in our adoptions, in our marriages, in our communities, etc. When I drove out of Cite Soliel that day, I felt the full impact of God's greatness and the full impact of how small I am. He knows what's best for us and He loves us like He loves that little girl. He would go to the ends of the earth to meet us. He'd go to the ends of the Earth to give us a promise and to show us His great love for us. Is not God the greatest? I am fully melted again.

~Linda~