A Glimpse into Haiti

 

Haiti was and is many things. It’s always a struggle trying to put things like this into words. 

 

Like how do I truly summarize the depth of a month in a country with the opportunity to share the greatest thing ever aka Jesus Christ.

 

A checklist can’t describe the feelings that go behind waking up at 5:30am to the sounds of your neighbors roosters, staring off into the mountains as your mind races, or trying to explain that not all missionaries are Caucasian to a group of people who have never seen a darker skinned American, or doing door to door evangelism with a local pastor while squeezing into small home the size of a bedroom in the states, or trying to rationalize the intensity of poverty that is in your face each and everyday. Children without parents, tin roofs and wooden homes, 5cent bags of water that a man is trying to sell all day as he walks the streets.

 

There’s so many things that are going on in our lives and the lives of others. There’s so much joy, so much pain. All at the same time. We scroll through social media casually on smartphones while others plow fields for hours. It’s truly a mind warp. Different cultures, different struggles, different realities.

 

It’s tough. To jump on an airplane at the end of each month and see so many things. To tell people that you care for them and then have to leave them behind. It’s tough if you really press in and not make other people’s lives a casual thing. It’s tough when you truly attempt to soak in another persons life and not let it have an info commercial affect on your life.

 

It’s tough. Haiti was tough.

 

BUT.. I’d do it all over again. I’d play soccer with the young boys for hours even,after I sliced my hand open on rocks, I’d stand at the front of a church service and share parts of my life with intermittent pauses as the translator steps in.

 

I’d learn and help build the structure of a tin roof with random “woods”

 

 

I

‘d do some push-ups with one of the coolest kids on my back

 

I’d sit down with a big plate of Mais Moulin with an awesome missionary (Jesse Lancour)

 

I’d talk with a young man in the village about his future in engineering and accept the gift of a bracelet he hand wove.

 

I’d try to have a conversation over a fence with our neighbor Woodsy even if I couldn’t speak creole.

 

I’d do it all if the Lord provided that opportunity again. There are divine opportunities each and every day whether we are abroad or right at home. Moments to serve others and share love. 

 

Transitioning can be hard. It’s bittersweet. It’s bitter and then it’s sweet. Bitter having to leave, but sweet when you can look back on all the unique and divine opportunities that you were given.

 

I’m overwhelmingly thankful for the experiences I’ve been able to take part in and for the endless lessons that come with them. I’ll be home soon!! In fact, at the end of this month!

 

I look forward to catching up with you all and not only sharing the depth of these stories, but also hearing yours too. Life doesn’t stop when you leave the country for 11 months.

 

Thanks so much for all your support and a special shoutout to Kirsten and Jesse Lancour who are working diligently for the Lord in Foret de Pines, Haiti (https://www.facebook.com/Cornerstone-Church-Haiti-259543564114234/)  and to Mission of Hope in Titanyen, Haiti (http://www.mohhaiti.org/).