Lindsay expected to learn about other people and like most people, she expected to help others when they go on a mission trip. Instead, she learned more about herself and had a life changing experience.

With her family, Lindsay Green went on a mission trip to Haiti at beginning of the school year to help out in orphanages. The organization they went with was called the Global Orphan Project. They flew into Port of Prince then went to two different villages about an hour away. Their main goal was to visit two orphanages and then at the orphanages to spend time with the kids.

“It’s not about the stuff that you bring,” Lindsay said. “It’s more about you personally spending time with the kids and getting to know them and building those relationships that will really help the kids.”

The orphanages they went to had about 30 to 40 kids in them and all of the kids were kids that the Global Orphan Project had found in the streets of Haiti. There were about 20 of volunteers who went on the mission trip.

Going with family

Lindsay, her parents and sister had been wanting to go on a mission trip for a long time. Her family had heard great things about the Global Orphan Project and they actually knew the leader of the project because Lindsay went to school with his son.

“The best part of the trip was going with the family,” Lindsay’s

mother, Debbie said.

Her family went with her aunt, uncle and two cousins [from her moms side]. They all wanted to share the Gospel and spread their faith to another country and culture.

“It was great to share the experience with the people I love,” Lindsay’s 12 year old sister, Emma said. “It was fun to see Lindsay going outside of her comfort zone.”

The Orphans

With about twice the size of orphans as volunteers, there was about two for each person on the mission trip.

Their games aren’t much like America’s games. They play soccer outside for hours. They also play board and card games.

“They [the orphans] always would have huge smiles on their faces and when we off the bus, they would start running to toward us,” Lindsay said. “They would want us to give them piggy-back rides and want you to hug them and just want that physical attention.”

Life Lessons

Debbie took care of a little boy, who was four years old, at one of the orphanages. He didn’t want to run around in the grass and kick the soccer ball around. He didn’t want to play board games or (game name). He just wanted to sit and do his own thing.

Debbie wanted to get him to socialize and play the games that the other kids were. She was used to have four year-olds running around full of energy and wanting to do something. She wasn’t used to him just sitting around and doing nothing.

After a while of trying to coax him to go play with the other kids, Debbie realized a startling thought. She had been doing what she wanted to do instead of doing what he wanted. She then realized that everyone has different needs and we need to change our perspective to fit their needs.

Louine

One of the orphans that Lindsay took care of was at the second orphanage they went to. His name was Louine and he was three years old and very tiny.

He warmed up to her very easily, but of course there is the language barrier. They speak Creal, while she spoke English. Lindsay learned how to say “What is your name?” which is “Como re les” and “hi” also, but they never really got to speak with each other.

She would try to play soccer with him but he was three so he couldn’t really do much. They would pass the ball around and took some pictures. They were fascinated by cameras and liked to see themselves.

“There was this one moment where even though you can’t speak to them, you just get them,” Lindsay said. “Even though you can’t talk and you have all of these things that are different, like I am older than him, I have a different skin color than he does, and other differences but yet we are brought together by the same things.”