Hello everyone! This last month in Haiti was awesome! We not only got to bless the locals in Haiti but we also were able to bless and encourage the American church that were in Haiti to serve just as we were. So for this blog I asked one of the guys that we had the pleasure of meeting and encouraging in Christ during the month to write about his experience at Mission of Hope in Haiti.
My religious background is similar to a lot of other people. I grew up in a little town in Indiana called Twelve Mile and attended a little Baptist church. The expectations every week were you better get your butt out of bed and be there at 9:30 AM on Sunday. I did my regular routine: praise the Lord on Sundays, pray before I go to sleep, and be a good role model in our community. I was a kid that got good grades, mostly stayed out of trouble, did well in athletics, very active in school clubs and activities, and attended church on Sundays. I thought I had it all figured out what it meant to be a Christian. As long as you believed and asked for forgiveness for your sins you had a one way ticket to hang out with the big man upstairs…right?
Fast forward a few years to college. It was early second semester my junior year when I made the decision to go to Haiti. I remember walking into room 1 of our fraternity at Purdue University and seeing my friends, JT and Matt, sitting on the couches talking. I decided to join in on the conversation and JT brought up that he was going on a mission trip to Haiti the week after finals. In the back of my mind I thought that was really cool but didn’t put much more thought into it. A few weeks later I was laying in bed and it was one of those nights my mind was racing and I couldn’t sleep. For some reason I kept thinking about the mission trip JT was going to Haiti on. I laid in bed and pondered over it and finally made the decision I was going to go too. My reasoning for going was I didn’t have time to go on a mission trip in high school because I was so busy during the summer, so I figured this was the perfect time to do my good deed for the world. Little did I know that God had an entirely different plan for me that week.
I was nervous/excited as we flew into Haiti. I didn’t know what kind of projects we would be doing, but I was ready to make an impact on a country that you hear so often on the news has so many problems. We got on a bus and rode it for about 45 minutes to the Mission of Hope home base near Cabaret. I unpacked my stuff and walked over to the activity area to play soccer with some of the orphans that were there.
Later the next night we were hanging out with some people that were World Racers and began having conversation with them. Out of nowhere one of the racers named Mary asked the four of us, “Have you ever heard God speak to you?” I wish someone would’ve videotaped me in that moment because I probably looked at her like she was on drugs as all four of us responded “No.” Don’t get me wrong I’m a firm believer in God but I thought that was some Old Testament stuff she was talking about. The racers then asked us to have a silent prayer with them and see if we could hear God speak to us. I sat there in silence with my eyes closed for about two minutes expecting this booming Morgan Freeman like voice to say something. Guess what I heard? Nothing. Silence. Not a single word, thought, or image popped into my head. When I opened my eyes, one of the racers named Matt looked at me and said “God spoke to me and told me that you’re like Moses. People want to follow you and you don’t even realize it.” In the back of my mind I was thinking “Alright, this kid is on drugs too. I’m gonna shake my head yes but I have no idea what he is talking about.” At the same time he had my attention. Why did God speak to a guy I barely knew and tell him something about me but I couldn’t hear anything? I went to bed that night thinking about what Matt had said.
Monday morning was the first day we were going out to the villages in Cabaret. I had learned the news that we would not be building a house…or a building a well…or pouring concrete…or anything that I thought I came there to do. We were going to go house to house and evangelize. I was pretty disappointed to be honest. How am I supposed to go evangelize to these Haitians? I don’t speak a lick of Creole and I’m nowhere near capable of preaching to these people. I decided that first day I was going to sit back and watch what everyone else did because I was clueless. We then loaded up on the bus and drove to the village in Cabaret.
I knew the poverty in Haiti was bad because you always hear about it, but this first village we went to I was not prepared for. Many people were sick, pink eye was everywhere, little kids were running up to you trying to get a drink from your water bottle, houses were comparable to old abandoned barns where I’m from, and trash was everywhere. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into. I was in a group of about six people and we went person to person and talked about their living situation, health condition, family members, and other basic questions. Other people would start evangelizing and asking about their relationship with God. This whole day I sat back and listened to these people and tried to learn how to evangelize.
I can honestly say I never got great at evangelizing throughout the week. I gave it a try many times and probably don’t give myself enough credit, but I just didn’t enjoy it. I felt very comfortable talking to people about their personal issues or needs and if they were a Christian then I was fine. I could have conversation all day. But when it came to Voodoo, I was outside my comfort zone and honestly scared. It’s not like what you see in movies where they stab the dolls and all that jazz. These people were inviting demons into their bodies and homes to take care of temporary earthly needs. It’s hard to describe when you go into a Voodoo temple. None of it makes sense, but I quickly learned the devil and his demons are real. It was a feeling of fear I’ll never forget. At the same time, God’s light was shining inside me the entire time to protect me and power through.
One thing I did love about Haiti were the kids. Everywhere I walked I seemed to have a group of them jumping on my back, stealing my bracelet, taking filtered snapchats on my phone, or playing with my hair because it was different from theirs. Anything I could do to help make these kids laugh or smile made me feel better. You learn very quickly how blessed you are growing up in the home you did. I was complaining about how uncomfortable my mattress was at Mission of Hope and some of these kids didn’t even have a bed. Some didn’t have a shirt on their back. Some didn’t have a meal every day. Some will never have a clean glass of water. Some of them have had more traumatic experiences in their short lives than we will have in our entire life in America. It was the most humbling experience of my life.
Every night JT, Matt, Seth and I would meet and talk about what we did and how we were growing spiritually throughout the week. It was amazing all we had learned and how much we had grown. Having people surround you that were supportive as they were was amazing. Not too mention we had all learned about as much in one week from the racers as we had in the past 20 years of our lives. We had all learned that one week in Haiti what it really meant to accept Christ into our lives. However, I was still frustrated. I had one thing on my mind all week, why had God not spoken to me? Everyone in our group seemed like they had heard him, but why not me? Then one night I finally understood. God speaks to me all the time. It’s not a booming voice that talks to me about my day. I was blind but now I can see. He spoke to me when I decided to go to Haiti randomly. He spoke to me when Matt looked at me and described me as Moses. He spoke to me when a racer named Shay pulled me aside one day and talked to me for an hour about how I was going to do amazing things one day. He spoke to me when he surrounded me with amazing people in Haiti to grow closer to him. God sent me to Haiti so I could finally hear his word.
I wish I could say things have been easy since I’ve returned to America. I’m still faced with the same temptation and sin that I was before. The devil is always there whispering in my ear, but God is always there putting me in a position to succeed. Spiritual warfare is a real thing. I encourage anyone who has questioned their faith or wants to grow closer to God to go to Haiti for one week. One week in this country changed my life and it can change yours too. Some people that know me personally may read this blog and roll their eyes because of things I’ve done in the past. I don’t blame them either. I’ve lived in sin all my life and I know I’ll make mistakes as long as I live. Before I hesitantly followed him because I didn’t want to go to hell. Now I willingly walk beside him waiting for my day to join him upstairs. He’s put me into the game to execute his plan, and now it’s my job to perform.
Isaiah 40:29-31 says “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power in the weak. Even youth grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who have hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” The only thing I can do now is be the leader that God knows I can be.
Act Justly
Love Mercy
Walk Humbly
Micah 6:8
Quentin Douglass
My hope and prayer is that Quentin’s story would encourage you to step out in faith where the Lord is calling you to do so. Maybe that is a week in Haiti. Maybe that is doing a weekly service project at your local homeless shelter. Maybe that is helping to send other missionaries through financial support. Whatever the Lord is calling you to I pray for obedience.
I also hope that this will encourage you to ask questions to God and wait and listen knowing that he may not answer as you expect but he will answer we just have to be patient and listen with more than our ears.
