10-4-12
I met Effie when I was probably around five or six years old, and all I remember was I loved her from the get-go! She was funny, she smiled a lot and I liked her accent. It never mattered that she was black, or that she walked with a cane, or that unlike me, her parents made her wear skirts all the time. Whatever works. We were pals, and that was that.
*Pic of Effie from Facebook
Effie is almost ten years older than me, and she is originally from Haiti. However, she grew up in Liberty, Kentucky at The Galilean Children’s Home! I should remember more details than I do, but my vague understanding is that as a small child she was immobilized from the waste down. Having founded a home for children with similar circumstances, her would-be parents rescued her from a Haitian orphanage and brought her to live with them in The Bluegrass State, worked with doctors to help with her walking, provided an education and eventually gave her opportunities to work, but most importantly, they told her about Jesus!
I don’t believe in coincidences, so I know that there was definitely reason in why Effie popped in my head Monday morning as we traveled across the border from The Dominican Republic into Haiti. I even told my teammate, Karen, about her; about her miraculous story, about how it’s been almost a year since I’ve seen her, and about how being in Haiti made me feel strangely close to her! Seconds after this, I got a text message from a number I didn’t recognize. Again with that coincidences thing… until that point, I hadn’t texted ANYONE from my normal phone number since I left on The World Race. I’ve had my phone set on airplane mode and only used wireless capabilities when possible, so the fact that I even switched over to normal mode (only with the intent of letting my Mom know I was alive) was kind of no small thing. The unidentified number asked how I was doing and asked for my Mom’s phone number… I texted back… “Who is this?” and soon I had an answer, “Effie!”
I couldn’t believe it! I was so excited to tell her where I was (in less than 140 characters – international texts aren’t cheap!) and that God was seriously linking us even more!
Effie is seriously a reminder than family really knows NO bounds. So many people here remind me of her – their beautiful dialects; their big, dramatic eyes; their joking around at all costs and their ability to make me smile! My team’s translator, Wilson, even looks like Effie! I keep telling myself that maybe, just maybe, I’m looking into the faces of some of her birth family members. Maybe I’m managing to minister to them in the same way that Effie and her adoptive family have ministered to mine all these years. God’s plan really is full circle!
Luke 5:7 is part of the account of Jesus calling his first disciples, Peter, James and John. The verse reads:
“So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.”
This passage parallels the call to The Church. Not any individual church, but THE CHURCH to reach out to one another, unify and help each other execute casting a Net (the Gospel) into the Deep (the World) and hauling in a load that will be FAR TOO LARGE for any one church to handle.
When Effie was born in Haiti, I doubt anyone guessed she would some day go to America, be part of a singing choir for a Christian Children’s Home, use her testimony and literally cast a net to bring people to Jesus. In that same right, anyone who knows me is probably still picking their jaw up off the floor at the thought of me trudging around the globe, and specifically in Haiti, doing my best to evangelize and win souls to Jesus. Effie and I are partners! We’re casting nets and helping each other real them in, and I’m really glad to have her working with me!
Last fall when Mom and I visited her, Effie was her usual full-of-energy self, cutting up, cracking jokes and taking no prisoners. She’s always picking around, teasing Mom about how much she loves Effie, etc. So it was no surprise when Mom said something about “taking care of Effie,” that my spit-fiery friend responded, “Yep, I’ll be your little chocolate drop forever!” I’m still laughing about it. 🙂
Be Blessed,
Ashlee
