Least of these?

Today I get the pleasure of sharing our experiences (Dan) 
So far our trip has been full of new and exciting experiences, that's what I love about being called to these trips. God is here with us and directing our paths and stretching our boundaries and perspectives. I want to thank everyone back home for checking in on us, through this blog and praying as well. I know that through your prayers God has guided this trip so far. 
I want to warn everyone before I start this blog it might be a mushy one, so heads up!
I've been given permission to share this with everyone, although some of you might already know about it. Mike and Rachelle have been great friends of ours and we are proud to say that they are in the process of adopting a beautiful little girl here in Haiti. Today we got to experience first hand as to how much need there is in Haiti.   You will have to ask them about the details as to how God led them to to take this step of faith but James 1 says;
Religion that God our father excepts as pure and faultless is this; to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself being polluted from the world.

Mike had been trying on his own efforts to try to get a ride and spend some time with his Daughter but everything he tried seemed to fall apart. Mike and I were even thinking about renting motorcycles to make our way up the hill to Petionville to the orphanage. (I know this wouldn't have been our wisest decision and I'm sure our family's back home would disapprove too). But God had a different plan. 

We have had a few God moments and one of them was meeting another servant of God here at the hotel. We were eating dinner when all of a sudden we hear "hey is that you Robert?" It was a friend that Robert had grown up with and he was here on his own working with another orphanage. He also happens to be a redneck Albertan from Edmonton! It's is funny the connections that you can still have around the world. God's timing is perfect and He lined up Roberts friend, Mike (yes, another Mike, i'll call him new Mike so that story doesn't get confusing) to be here while we were here. After chatting with him for a bit and getting to know him over the last few days he offered us a ride to M&R's orphanage. 
So, this morning New Mike, his driver, Mike and I headed out around 8 am and our first stop was at new mikes orphanage. I've been to a few of these types of orphanages over the past few years and have seen some tough living conditions for these littles ones but this one was rough. It's hard to describe my thoughts and feelings but I'll try; we were greeted (not with smiles) by dirty but beautiful little bare foot boys and girls.  We got a tour of the facility and it was very dark and dirty, an old sewage pipe sticking out of the wall and you can imagine the smell of human waste. We were told that the kids went without any food this morning due to no money.  There also were lots of adults around too (which didn't seem to fit) which made me question the management of the place. It broke my heart to see the way these little ones live. Are these the least of these the scripture speaks of?
We then headed off through Petionville which is a "nicer and cleaner" part of town. You can tell that there is more money in this area, not by much I'm sure. How about these people, are these the least?
We made it to GLA orphanage and I could tell by how swiftly Mike jumped out that he was excited and I could tell the anticipation in his voice!
The facility was very clean, well kept, smelled nice, organized and tidy. Well managed, well supported, I thought. 
One of the workers came out with a VERY cute Hatian girl, Mikes face changed, was filled with joy. 
We spent about half an hour with his little one on his lap, she was very comfortable with him, so much so she fell asleep. When it was time to go and Mike went to put her in her room she started to cry and grasped at Mikes neck with all her might, she just wanted to be safe in the loving arms of her father. It's no different than us wanting to be safe in the loving, gentle arms of our Heavenly Father! It was a tearful moment for not only Mike but also those witnessing it. Yes, it's true firefighters may look tough on the outside (some anyway) but we still can shed a tear with the best of them. It was a touching blessed moment and so grateful God allowed me to be apart of it. 

Mike and I also want to thank the rest of the team for graciously letting us skip out on work for the morning to do this. They were able to get a lot of bricks laid and the next concrete columns prepped and ready to pour, which Mike & I helped pour in the afternoon. 

God really showed us today that the least of these aren't only the dirty, hungry orphans, the healthy clean little ones but everyone who hasn't accepted Christ in their lives, wherever we are in the world. How are we as followers of Christ loving the least?