Let me just start off by saying as glamorous as ministry can look from the outside, it isn’t always rainbows and glitter.
Ministry is hard, and it shows you the cold hard truth of the world around you.
Ministry makes me sick to my stomach sometimes, because it makes me think about how ungrateful I am for things I take for granted at home.
I have a bed I sleep in at home, I always have clean water, I have what seems like way too many clothes, I have a toilet and shower with running water, I have so much more than such a large amount of people in our world.
This all leads me back to one thing that I witnessed this past week. So let me tell you about it…
It was time for afternoon ministry, usually everyday our ministry looks like going into one of many villages the Mission I’m staying with sponsors to do evangelism/ house visits. This particular afternoon we were visiting the village of Titanyen. That morning we filled our stomachs with food and spent the morning doing house visits, hopped back on a bus after a couple hours, filled our stomachs once again, and shortly there after were back on a bus once again riding back to the village to do some more house visits.
We got to the village and shuffled out of the bus, we started walking through the village following our translators waiting to find a house to visit. I was hand in hand with a couple of kiddos whdo wanted to walk with me, when I noticed the majority of my team was stopped in a clump in front of me. The kiddos parted ways with me while I welcomed myself back to my team.
They were talking to a man, who we quickly found out was a pastor, in a green button up shirt, and dress pants and shoes. After listening for a couple minutes I found out he was inviting us to his orphanage, he told us the kids love visitors. We agreed, and he led the way up the side of a hill. The orphanage consisted of two different buildings, one was a little outdoor school house, and the other was the sleeping and living quarters. He welcomed us into the school house.
The pastor told us a little bit about the orphanage and how they are quickly running out of money and supplies. We asked them if Mission of Hope has ever been to visit them, and they said someone came once, but they were on a short term mission and no one has visited since.
It was shocking and heart breaking, that the Mission sponsors this village, but they probably didn’t even know this orphanage existed. It was even more shocking that one of our translators lives in this village and he didn’t even know this orphanage existed. I knew this was a larger village and there only so much you can do.
The pastor said he was going to bring the kids into the classroom, and that they absolutely love visitors. All the kids shuffled into the school house and sat together on two benches. Then we were told they were going to sing for us. The pastors wife conducted them in song. They sang “A Whole New World,” from Aladdin in creole. My heart was exploding, kiddos and Disney, TWO OF MY FAVORITE THINGS! I was smiling from ear to ear. After they finished singing the pastor asked us to pray for the children. My team and I prayed all at once and I was probably holding about 5 kids hands at once. I knew the Lord was listening to all of our prayers.
Then we got to play and talk to the kids, love on them, make sure they knew they were cherished children, and that they matter. I was drawing pictures in the dirt with my finger and the kids would guess what they were. I was pretty proud of myself and my little knowledge of french from school that most of my drawings were words I knew that transferred over in creole. We drew, laughed, counted, sang the alphabet, and smiled a lot together.
In the midst of playing with the kids the pastor took some of my teammates to the living quarters to show them where the kids sleep.
They sleep on cold, hard, concrete. The kids who are full of joy and laughter sleep on the bare ground every night. There is nothing glamourous about that.
These children’s parents left them and couldn’t take care of them, and now they are receiving love, but they still don’t have a comfortable place to lay their heads, or enough food to nourish their stomachs.
My heart breaks for these children. My heart breaks for the pastor and his wife that so badly want these kids to have a life full of hope and love, but can’t give them more. My heart breaks for the country of Haiti everyday.
But there is something really incredible about the people I met in Haiti. They are overflowing with the Lords love. They have so much dependence on him, and they are so confident in his glory. They know He is so good.
As we were about to leave they sang us another song, and then the pastor explained to them that we are missionaries and asked the kids to pray over us. All at once the children, and the pastor and his wife prayed over us. Kids as young as three and as old as twelve individually prayed over us. You could see the Lord providing words for them, even though there was a language barrier I could feel the Lords presence.
After prayer we said our goodbyes and exchanged handshakes and hugs.
My team and I fortunately had the opportunity to talk to staff here at Mission of Hope about the orphanage and they assured us they will try their hardest to help.
Everyday I will pray for these kids I met, the pastor and his wife, and the orphanage. And I am confident the Lord will hear my prayers and he will do what he plans to. I am confident the Lord sent my team and I to take orphanage that afternoon.
It’s days like those that make my heart break and I know the Lords is breaking with me. It’s days like these that make ministry hard yet rewarding. It’s days like these that remind me to be thankful and grateful. It’s days like these that remind me what I’m doing is not easy, but I must always trust in the Lord.
Love always, Alina
