Hello everyone. Caroline here.
I am writing to you from Titenyen, Haiti. The campus we are staying on, owned by our ministry host Mission of Hope, is surrounded on all sides by beautiful, dusty, rolling mountains, hidden more often than not by low hanging clouds. From the roof of our guest house you can see the sun setting over the ocean; pinks, purples, and blues are thrown about in an enchanting, hap-hazard fashion in the evening sky. The animals here roam free; chickens, goats, and lizards can be often seen, and more often heard. The trees planted on campus are still bearing fruit; bananas, papayas and walnuts hang at unreachable heights. The children who live in the orphanage on campus are shy but loving, and the children in the villages run up to you with open arms fully expecting love and friendship to spring forth in an instant.
I did not come to Haiti expecting to fall in love. If I’m being honest Haiti was the country I was least excited about. I saw no draw to a place I “knew” to be a wasteland in both land and spirit. I crossed the border into Haiti expecting a spiritual battle against darkness to immediately ensue. Instead I felt the presence of God meet me as I sang “Holy Spirit You are Welcome Here” on our bus, and in moments since I have heard Him speaking to me truths about His love for the people who live here.
My squad mate, Alexis, invited our whole squad to join her in praying for Haiti on the roof of our guest house at three in the morning. I am not sure why she chose that time, and I went to bed with no intensions of waking up so early to pray. However, at 2:45 A.M. I woke up having to go to the bathroom, and unable to get back to sleep I begrudgingly made my way to the roof.
On that roof my prayer for Haiti quickly turned into a song, and as I sang I saw a picture of God hovering over Haiti, arms stretched wide, singing with me to anyone who would listen. “Lay down your burdens. Lay down your shame. All who are broken lift up your face. Oh wanderer come home. You’re not too far. Lay down your hurt. Lay down your heart. Come as you are”. God was singing to the people of Haiti to come to Him; no matter how broken and hurt they are. He wants Haiti to return to His love and His presence.
Then I saw another picture; Jesus was walking the streets of Haiti, but there wasn’t just one Jesus, there were hundreds! Each Jesus was walking up to every door on every street and telling everyone He came across how much they were loved by their heavenly father, how they could give their lives to Him, and that they could experience love and freedom like they’ve never known. Then as I watched Jesus transformed. He no longer looked like Himself, but His face turned into faces I knew: the people on my squad and the people at Mission of Hope. Suddenly WE were the ones going from door to door, and we were telling people about God.
Mission of Hope has a motto and it goes like this: “As an organization following Jesus Christ, we exist to bring life transformation to every man, woman, and child in Haiti”. I am so blessed and humbled that for this month I get to be a part of that. I am so greatful to be the hands and feet of Jesus here and that I get to tell people about Him and His love. My whole view of this country has been completely transformed in the past two weeks. I feel like, in some small way, I now see Haiti more through the eyes of the Father. I love it here, and I cannot wait to see what the next two weeks in Haiti have in store.
FUNDRAISING UPDATE: Alex and I are currently at $20,265. Our next deadline in 2/29/16 and we are supposed to be at $26,000. Any donation amount can help, so please click the “Support Me” button at the top of the page to donate! THANK YOU!!!
