Last December I was watching a documentary on TV about an
Internally Displaced People (IDP) camp in Haiti. I felt a tug on my heart,
which I figured was solely because of it reminding me of my passion for IDP in
Kenya and the Kingdom Dream for empowering change and restoring hope there.
Later, while sharing with one of my monthly supporters about
my hopes for Kenya, he began to compare it to his time in Haiti. It was almost
unreal the number of similarities and connections he made. Again, my heart felt
a tug and I felt like maybe there was something of value to see this IDP camp
in Haiti and glean from the experience there to better prepare for success in
Kenya’s IDP camp. “But I’m going to Kenya…�
Over the past 6 months, Haiti has repeatedly been brought to
my attention. I rationalized away most of this… I do work at a missions
organization after all; it is not uncommon for people to talk about a poverty
stricken country!
In May, I became friends with Steve who was going to be
project leading in Haiti for the summer. I got to know him and a few of the other staff members who
would be there. The Lord put this team on my heart and led me to invest in
them. I began praying for them and their work in Haiti.
Meanwhile, God continued to bring Haiti to the forefront of
my mind in seemingly random ways. Then one night I could not sleep. God boldly
asked me, “Why are you not obeying my call?� I had felt the urge to go to Haiti
stronger than ever, yet I still did not think it would even be possible. I was
going to Kenya, I can’t go to Haiti too. I have work to do at AIM and can’t
take time off to leave the country. These excuses are ridiculous to God and He
knows that I can go to Haiti for a week and still go to Kenya. The next day I
looked online to see if I could join a weeklong trip to Haiti and they were all
booked. I told God, “See, I can’t go�. His response was… “You haven’t even tried!�
So, Monday morning I went into the office to see if perhaps they could make an
exception and add me to a Haiti trip. She explained that it would depend upon
if there was room in housing and that she could look it up. As she scrolled
down her computer screen she said, “Looks like there is room for 1 more.� … Of
course there is!
This was only the first of many obstacles I felt I’d need to
overcome. I would need permission to go from both of my supervisors. As I
continued to walk forward in the process, door after door flew wide open to my
surprise. The AIM housing in Haiti
is even in the same city as the IDP camp and they regularly do ministry there. Things were falling into place; everything
down to already having the immunization shots that I would need.
SO… On July 15th, I’ll be getting on a plane and
heading to Haiti for just over a week!
