Well i have officially set out on the craziest adventure of my life! I would be lying if I said that I wasn't scared because I am. And I would also be lying if I said it was easy to leave because it wasn't. It was very difficult leaving all of the ones I love most and knowing that I won't see them again for another 11 months. But I praise God for the time i got to spend with my amazing family and community of friends, because I got to make the most of my summer and treasure every moment with them (I love you guy so much!) And even though it is hard I am completely confident in what God has in store for me. Now it's me and Him, our journey together. And that's what I am beyond excited for, to spend 11 months with Him, without the distractions of home, diving into the unknown, trusting Him to lead me every step of the way, getting to know Him better as I come to meet/love those He loves of all cultures and parts of the world. He becomes so much bigger and so much greater the more I get to know Him, and its endless!
So I have only been in Haiti for about a week so far but I love it here so much! We are working with an organization called Mission of Hope. It is such an amazing organization and I love their vision and values. Their mission is that through Jesus Christ they seek to transform the lives of every man woman and child in Haiti. They have several campuses with a hospital, school, orphanage, church, etc. They also have a prosthetics lab where they make prosthetic limbs for the people there for free which can totally transform their lives (I think this is so cool and it made me wonder what kind of training/education you would need for this because it seems like an amazing field to help change peoples' lives that id be very interested in). They feed over 90,000 children a day and help to build/provide housing in the villages surrounding. Their goal is to train and raise up Haitian leaders so that they may take over and transform their communities and country themselves. Thus MOH is predominantly run by Haitians (the schools, the orphanage, hosptial…everything) and others are just there for support and training (just to get things started/running) which i think is so great and most beneficial.
I want to share one little story that really touched my heart about MOH: so there was this man who had an ambulance on hand who felt strongly called by God to have it sent over to MOH for their hospital but MOH kept telling him that there really wasnt a need for it and they didnt want to go through the hassle of getting it to Haiti when there really wasnt a need. Yet the man was persistent and kept telling MOH that he felt strongly that God was telling him that they shold have it there so they gave in. At about the same time, a doctor came to work at the MOH hospital because he felt called to work there yet he was highly overqualified and they told him he wasn't really needed with the amount of qualifications he had yet he stayed anyway. Soon after both of these the 2010 earthquake hit Haiti and caused mass devastation. The ambulance that was sent there was only 1 of 2 on the whole island and ended up being extremely needed (many of the people here remember it as the ambulance that helped save their/their loved ones lives). And the doctor that was there took in so many patients and was able to treat them and save their lives as well. I think that this story is a huge testament about listening to God and being confident in what He says no matter what others tell you. If these two people had ignored what God told them because others told them they werent needed then who knows how many more lives could have been lost. We need to trust and act on what God is telling us even if we dont understand because He knows better.
A few of our days here we went to a work site that was so beautiful right on the ocean and helped to build a pastoral conference center where the pastors from all the villages could meet up. It was an awesome team building experience and we all worked really hard and got so much done yet also made it really enjoyable as we sang and played games as we worked. Yesterday we went into one of the villages that hadnt been reached yet and we got to talk to some of the families there and build friendships with them and then ask them of their needs and pray over them with our translator. Right when we got off the bus we were swarmed by kids and got to carry them and walk with them as we went to talk with the people there. We took a little break for lunch and then we got to come back and play with all the kids which was so much fun! I played lots of football and soccer running around like a crazy maniac laughing and cheering with all the young boys. One of our Haitian leaders was absolutely amazing with the kids and organized a few games with all the kids and they absolutely loved it! and we all got to join in. I'm so excited for what the rest of this month has in store. I feel like we are pretty dang lucky this first month because we have bunk beds with electricity/air conditioning, showers, great food and my favorite part is the rooftop where you can see the ocean and incredible sunrises/sunsets and intense lightning storms (which have occurred almost every night off in the distance that light up the sky).
My prayer for all of us as we are starting the World Race:
Heavenly Father,
We lay our lives before you. We give ourselves away so that you may work in us and through us. Help us to be unafraid, to take your hand and be led blindly by faith in you. Send us out into the world. May we completely humble ourselves and do missions as your son Jesus did. Take away all pride, power, influence and prestige we carry with us. Make us nothing so that you are everything. Help us not to consider ourselves even equal to the people we meet, but less than them so that we may lift them up. Help us to be good listeners so we may better understand. Help us to see as you see and break our hearts for what breaks yours. Please give us the passion, fervor and faith of the early disciples. Help us to love and care for each other as you would. Help us to be free from all that is holding us back and distracting us so we may be present and live in each moment. Make us uncomfortable so we may be completely dependent on you. And take care of all of our loved ones at home. Amen
Praise God!
