We were just about to head home from ministry just like every other day of the month. Just about to leave Mommy Jan’s orphanage when Naomi, the team leader, spoke up and said we needed to pray now. She had just received a text from our host Alex, who had a 1.5 yr old dropped off at her house and desperately needed prayers. All we knew was that he was severely malnourished and sick, so as we were shutting the gate behind us we stopped and prayed for the small boy and pleaded for God to heal him.
The next morning we were back at ministry as we were once again summoned into Alex’s house to gather around this boy and pray for him. It was then that we realized the severity of the situation. He weighed only 14 lbs and my heart broke as I saw his small little body curled up on the bed fast asleep, too weak to stay awake or even know how to sit on his own. We then found out that there were two of them that they were caring for. His brother, Kiki, was 3, weighed about the same as him and was being taken care of by another missionary. That day in that small house 15 of us gathered to pray for these boys, that they would gain strength back and gain the weight needed.
This wasn’t the first time Alex and Lala have had to nurse children back to life, and it probably won’t be the last, but this is what the Lord has called them to do. To immerse themselves in this culture, live in the slums and help out wherever needed. They are now both raising a little boy each that came to them looking the exact same way as Stanley and Kiki did. Now these boys are bright eyed, smart and filled with energy. While he hasn’t called me to do this exact thing, he has placed me here and now for such a moment as this and to teach me a lesson.
As I looked at Stanley laying on that couch the Lord said to me, “Quinn feed my children.”
What does that mean? As I thought and pondered, asking the Lord for a little more insight, I got an answer. Most of this world is starving, they are spiritually hungry and just like that little boy, who did not have enough food or strength to hold his head up, he provides for our every need. He provided Alex for Stanley, who spent the night holding him, feeding him, checking his temperature and waiting on his every need. She loved him unconditionally. She opened her heart up to a boy, who may or may not survive. That little boy might not know what it feels like to be physically full, but He definitely felt what it was like to be loved and cared for.
The Lord is always reaching for us. Often times he reaches for people that don’t reach back. People that turn their backs and deny Him. He always has an open heart for us, even when he knows how we are going to act. He reaches for us, he surrounds us with an overwhelming, unfailing, reckless love.
That’s what I am to do. I am to feed God’s children. The people I come into contact with. I am to love them unconditionally. Show them compassion and spiritually fill them up. I am to nurse them back to life and turn them to Jesus, the life giver. A life filled with freedom and to walk hand in hand with a father who will provide for them and love them unconditionally. He has called me out to love and serve people that don’t have everything physically. People that are lost and confused. People that may or may not accept Jesus as their Saviour and begin a life with Him. I may get rejected, but I am called to extend grace and continue reaching out. He has called me to have compassion on them, to sit on the dirt floors, laugh with them and share a bit of their life. He has showed me some hard things that are not easy to observe, but he is so faithful and teaches me so many things in those hard moments. I find that in those hard moments and the places I don’t want to go the Lord shows up so clearly.
So here I am, called to love the people. Extend grace and love some more. I am to feed His children so that they too, can be spiritually rich because that is what counts in this world. I want to encourage them to drink from the well that never runs dry.
Once again I was reminded that not every story has a happy ending. Yesterday we found out that Kiki passed away. Alex and Lala opened their heart, spent long nights caring for these boys and yet they didn’t survive. I know this isn’t the first time this has happened to them, where children have passed away on them, yet they still give. They still reach out to people and love them because that is what Jesus asked them to do. While their life here in Haiti isn’t always easy, they have blessed so many people and they have blessed me in so many ways. They have exemplified exactly what the Lord has told me to do.
It’s not always going to be easy. Sometimes I might want to put some walls up, but if I lean into Him, I know it will all be worth it. If he can get rejected and denied, but still extend his love I should be able to do it too Even if the ending isn’t happy and exciting.
I am still in need of financial support. I ask that you would pray with me for God to provide. He has called me here and I know that he will provide. If you feel like God is tugging on your heart you can donate through this page.
– If you are American go ahead and click on the donate tab at the top right hand corner of this page, all donations are tax deductible.
-If you are Canadian and would like a tax receipt, please send an e-transfer to [email protected] with a follow-up email stating my name (Quinn Diaz), your name and your address. Need help refer to this blog of mine.
I am also in need of prayer. Prayer is the most important support. I believe in the power of prayer.
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