God's Provision in Haiti

What an amazing trip to Haiti.  Because I have already heard so many comments about our trip I thought it would be good to do a blog and share a few insights.  I've had some say "why are you going to a place where it is dangerous?"  God did not call us to a life of contentment and complacency.  He called us to be obedient.  We are to help the fatherless and the orphans.  We are to come alongside the sick and the oppressed.  We are to love those who hate us and speak all evil against us.  We encountered all these things and in the midst of it all, we felt God's hand upon us.  We were never afraid.  We had complete peace (that ONLY God can give).
     We are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Psalm 82:3-4 says to "defend the cause of the weak and fatherless..." Matthew 5:10 says "blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  I believe God wants us to help those around us but He also wants us to share the gospel message of love to all nations.  That's what we did.  :)  From holding the babies to hugging and loving the other 47 children. when we pulled up to the orphanage and got out of the van the first words I heard were "Jesse, Jason, Cameron" the kids had remembered our group!!  It made me cry.  That is the kind of impact these guys (as well as Rebekah and Brittaney) made on these kids.  It had been 8 months since their last visit and the kids remembered them!!  These kids are going to school.  they are being taught the bible. they are learning songs about Jesus and how much He loves them.  and they are seeing it in action.
     There were so many wonderful experiences.  From going to church and hearing worship in Creole :) to holding the babies and getting to know some of the haitians.  We had one day when we were walking back from the cove and we stopped to hear two haitian men playing their guitar and worshipping God.  It was absolutely beautiful.  Several of us were in tears; we just felt the presence of God so strongly.  We asked if we could join them and they said yes.  We sang a few songs together and then they asked if we wanted to share (their english was very good). I shared that I believed this is what heaven would be like.  Worshipping together with no barriers of nationality or color. That we were brothers and sisters in Christ.  They agreed.  It was such a beautiful experience.
      I was able to go the next day to the hospital with the director's daugthter Emily who is l8 and has a heart to care for the people there.  She was amazing.  She learned the language in about 3 months.  She goes to the hospital and to the terminally ill ward and just loves on these people.  I felt so drawn to this type of caring.  As Emily was putting her arms around a 12 yr old girl (fanya) who was dying of aids and had only days to live, I sat with a woman who was waiting to have her foot and a portion of her leg amputated because ganegreen(sp?) set in.  I felt led to hold her hand and then pray with her... so I did.  She smiled and then commented (in creole) how white I was and how black she was)  :) and we laughed... and then I just sat with her and hummed songs and she joined it.  It was such a blessed time.  We visited with a prisoner who had broken his hip.  He smiled and shook our hands (Jesse was with me).  As a prisoner you are left alone.  You are given no food or drink unless a family member comes in to take care of you.
     We then went to Sisters of Charity" where the terminally ill were kept.  The ward we went to were TB patients.  We went and sat with them and held their hands.  I asked Nixon if He knew Jesus (as I pointed to His picture on the wall) he said "wi" :)  So many of the haitians have come to know Jesus.  They deeply love Him.
     I was so moved by how many young adults were giving their lives to serve here in Haiti.  They have "given up" the so-called dream life in America (as many would say) but in reality....they haven't given up anything.  When you do God's work and you are obedient to what he has called you to do,  there is nothing but peace.  Is it easy?  NO.  Is it convenient?  NO.  Is it hard?  YES.  But the rewards are great.  God commands us to take up our cross daily.  That means we die to our way of thinking.  Our way of living and we live for HIM alone.
     I'm sure many of you heard of what we went through in getting home.  On Friday half of the team got into a van to go back to Port au Prince to stay the night and then be taken to the airport 4:30 am next morning.  The 4 of us that were left ( Adam, Cameron, Jay and me) were to be picked up by another van around noon.  It was decided that it would be safest that way.  Noon came and went and at 9:30pm the driver showed up after being in his car for 12 hours (the trip should have taken 3 1/2 hours).  We were told the roads were blocked but that if we paid money we could get throughr. which would mean driving up to the barracade, getting out, walking our luggage across to the other side and then getting into the vehicle to take us to Port au Prince.  None of us had a peace about it and after telephone calls and several discussions, we made the decision to stay.  We knew that meant we could be there several more days but that was the decision that was made.  Afterward we all talked and knew we needed to pray. We discussed the fact that we should have prayed first but there was so much commotion it was difficult to do that.  When  Adam prayed he said "Lord forgive us for not coming to you first but please bless our decision"  and He did.  All the boys' prayers were beautiful.  I was so touched by how each of them handled the situation.  There was no fear, no anxiety, they talked things out, made a decision and we were all at peace with it.  We got to bed around 11 or 11:30 and by 6am there was a knock at the door saying "get up you have to leave NOW" the rioters had left but were going to get a big bus to barracade the road and there was no telling how long it would take to get out (good thing I didn't change)  :)  We jumped out of bed and into a van in about 5 min. time.  we took back dirt roads with big ditches, it amazed me how we even got through some of them.  At one point we stopped and 3 haitian men jumped in.  We didn't know who they were or why they joined us.  We just smiled and said "bon jour"  :)  total peace through it all.  They ended up getting us through the back roads.  At one point we stopped again to have some of the men laying palm branches over the ditch so we could get through (my sister Darlene said what a neat picture of how Christ entered Jeruselem with the palm branches and how that was like a sign of Adam's prayer  for God to bless our trip)  I agreed!  we then dropped off the 3 men and continued on to the main road.  As we wove in and out of traffic (its actually crazy) we made it through to Port au Prince. We were about 2 miles from the airport when the van started smoking (on the inside) and then the car died.  We were right in the middle of the road.  A man drove by and yelled out something and our driver flagged him to come over.  The next thing we knew we were getting our things out of the van and loading them into the other man's truck and sitting in the back as he drove us the rest of the way to the airport.  We saw all of this as God's provision.  He had His hand on us the entire trip.
     There is beauty in Haiti.  Loving and caring people.  There is also VooDoo and chaos and poverty.  But through it all Jesus is there.  To me, this is what life is about.  Caring for others.  Sharing the love of Jesus and doing the work He has called us to do.  I'm excited to see where God will lead Jim and I as we pray for His direction in our lives. I'm excited in how He was moving in the lives of all who participated in this trip.
 Material things don't matter.  It's being Jesus wherever we go that does.  :)
     Thank you again for all who prayed for our trip.  It was something to hear about when people felt the deepest need to pray was exactly the times where we really needed it.  Thank you for being obedient.
     Life in Christ is the only thing that matters. And, as Jesus said, "He will NEVER leave us or forsake us" Amen!!