Haiti – to put this country in a few words, a beautiful country but has so much need for so many different things.
There are so many different things here in Haiti than in America:
- the kids use rocks as soccer goals instead of a net
- when swimming typically children (some adults too) swim naked and it seems that they don’t have any shame
- when we got a flat tire, our driver simply trusts a random person to give him money and come back with a new tire
- as Americans we go to the grocery store to get bread while people in Haiti walk down the street selling it in order to provide for their families.
We want to feel comfortable in our own communities. However, we aren’t called to being comfortable, we’re called get out of our comfort zone. We need to stop using our American glasses when entering into new communities.
When we arrived in Haiti on June 3 (I apologize for just now writing a post), majority of our team was in a cultural shock. We didn’t know how to handle the men outside the airport who wanted to carry our luggage for us to the van. Then, that night we had to stay at what seemed like a sketchy guesthouse for the night before getting picked up by our ministry hosts.
When entering a new culture, we tend to keep our American glasses on. I fully believe that our team, including myself, kept our American glasses on. We want everything to stay the same when we visit a new country. We don’t want anything to change. But the beauty of leaving home is learning to get outside of your comfort zone and do things you never would have dreamt of doing.
The Lord calls us to get out of our comfort zone and trust him no matter what. One verse that stuck with me all of the month of June is Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.”
These verses have played a huge role for me & my first month gone.
“To lean not on your own understanding” is just another way to live by your faith.
- Abraham was ‘leaning not on his own understanding’ when he & Issac went to the mountain for a sacrifice for the Lord.
- Daniel was ‘leaning not on his own understanding’ when he was led to spend the night in the lions den.
- Stephen was ‘leaning not on his own understanding’ when he was stoned to death for proclaiming Jesus as the Son of God.
So what does it mean to lean, acknowledge, & follow?
Leaning away from our own understanding and toward God is by actively pursuing God’s will for your life. This means to do things that you wouldn’t typically do that’s 100% comfortable. Aka leaving for two months on a mission trip.
The way I have leaned, acknowledged, & followed the month of June:
- If you know me, I am pretty awkward with new people – probably super shy compared to others. This month we did a lot of door to door evangelism & prayer walking throughout the communities. So here comes the part of me being an awkward & shy person. I hated this ministry at first. But as I leaned in more to God, and acknowledged that whatever comes out of my mouth is from him; I grew to love this ministry the most. As we continue to follow what He has for us, he will make the way straight for you.
No one said this would be easy
It wasn’t easy for Joesph to face the fact that his brother’s hated him enough to kill him, but he endured all he went through knowing God would direct him in the path he needed to go.
It wasn’t easy for Peter & the other disciples to be ridiculed, beaten, thrown in jail, & then killed for their faith. They knew that Jesus meant what he said when he told them to preach the gospel to all nations, and they weren’t going to let him down.
I know countless men and women in Haiti & America who live in a way that leaning on The Lord is the only way they can make it through each day. They lean on him for strength, courage, comfort, and hope for whatever he will do to make their hearts and minds capable of being joyful for him.
In Matthew 6:31-34, Jesus is telling us that when we lean on our own understanding instead of His, we tend to put our struggles and worries on ourselves. Jesus promises that when we lean on God by putting Him first, everything else will be taken care of.
Yes, I promise you are able to do this as well. I can tell you that it won’t be easy, but it could be very fun. If you just take your glasses off & get out of your comfort zone + lean on God, you will be unstoppable!
With love, D
