Our heavy equipment operators, mechanics, and several of our pican workers have been teaming up the last few days to move several large shipping containers into one area on the property. Moving about twenty, 40-foot long metal shipping containers is a monumental task. They each weigh several thousand pounds. However, we quickly discovered that underneath several of them, honey bees had made a home. These colonies are huge! I have never seen so many bees in all my life.

We finally got up enough courage to continue the work. As a dark gray cloud of thousands of bees started to swarm, the men began scattering in all directions. As we were running for safety, I heard them laughing and shouting in Creole, “Benediksyon pou Love A Child, Benediksyon pou Love A Child!” In English, it means “Blessings for Love A Child.” When I felt I was a safe distance away, I asked Philemon why all the men were laughing and thanking God for “blessing Love A Child.” Philemon’s joyful response was, “because here in Haiti, bees mean blessings! The more bees, the more that place is blessed. This is a sign that God has blessed Love A Child”. God truly has blessed this place, and Love A Child is blessing thousands of people here!

When the throng of bees settled down a bit, we suited up our head mechanic, Joker, in the lone bee suit we have and went back to work. We uncovered several huge honeycombs covered in bees. With each new discovery, the men ran, laughed, and shouted, “Benediksyon pou Love A Child!” They even had several sweet treats throughout the day as they ate the raw honey.

So remember the next time you see a honey bee or are running from one, be reminded to pray for Love A Child, and know that you are blessed!

-Jesse Ostrander

Love A Child