This is a blog I don’t want to write. This is an event that changed my life, and one that I often block out because I don’t know how to process it. Three years later, I am still emotional.
Anyone who knows me knows I love Haiti. Haiti is my home. Haiti is the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. Haiti is the place where a 13 year old calls me mom.
But most importantly, Haiti is where I discovered the truth of what the Lord did for me.
I was fully prepared to see poverty, destruction, and hurt. But my first time there I found something that I was not prepared to see. A small group of my team went somewhere we were told not to go and came across a little girl.
Lying outside of a small village we found sweet Rose. I will never forget the moment we pulled up and saw her lying there. She couldn’t have been more than two years old, lying lifeless in the road. People passing by pretended she wasn’t even there. I was heartbroken and crushed for this sweet baby girl who was left as a sacrifice several days before.
After doing what we could, (which was not much without the risk of getting arrested) I was never able to see her again and I was never able to know if she got the proper burial she deserved. But I do know that she never left me.
Thanks to an amazing minister traveling with us, I was able to process what I could from the situation.
All I could do was pray for the family and village who gave their most precious gift, their little girl, as a sacrifice. I will be honest, I was so mad. I was frustrated, and I was sickened.
That week taught me two things that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
1. Who am I to judge these people that I don’t know. I don’t know their circumstances. Who am I to put down what they believe in when someone could do the same to me. They gave their most precious gift and unfortunately in many parts of the world this is the norm. I learned not to judge, but to pray. To pray for guidance and understanding and that Jesus may work in their lives.
2. This event taught me the truth in God’s love. I was so pained and hurt for this sweet little girl whom I had never met. The pain I felt lead me to realize the unimaginable pain that the Lord felt when he gave His only son. I can’t imagine the pain he felt and still feels. God gave His son for me and for you and that is a pain that will never go away. He did it for us, so we could be free.
This heart wrenching event haunts me sometimes, but this event also showed me God’s love. How lucky am I to have a father who would sacrifice something so big for me?
This my friends is my testimony.
This my friends is why I am going on the race; to share God’s love.
