For first-time readers, my name is Paola Trevino, consecrated woman in Regnum Christi. I’m in Port Au Prince, Haiti, on a mission trip with 25 college students. We’re serving with the Missionaries of Charity at their Children’s Home, a clinic for more than 160 malnourished kids.
Usually we start writing in chronological order, meaning what we did in the morning and so on. Well for those who do not know me, I like to do things as Frank Sinatra sings: “My way”.
After dinner time, we had our group debriefing. I had to really hold still so as not to let tears fall, hearing the highs and lows of the missionaries: a beautiful experience of Christ at work in the mission. Just in one day He was already softening hearts, making Himself present in each one.
I wish we could have recorded it and made a podcast…I will share with you some of their reflections:
“I saw God’s gaze through the eyes of a little child”
“A simple smile from a sick baby was so rewarding.”
“I was so self- centered I did not want to get too close so as not to get dirty or sick. I had never held babies in my life, today I held one and he fell asleep all cuddled up on my chest.”
It always amazes me what Christ can do when we prepare the right “setting”; He works His magic without fail.
It was a normal, simple day at the Children’s Home, nothing out of the ordinary — feeding babies, cuddling babies, giving endless piggyback rides, changing diapers, chasing toddlers along the hallway, smiling. Christ was present in every single one of those small acts of love.
