Finding Joy in Small Things
We have been working in various villages of Haiti for the past couple of weeks and it every time I get to walk through them and go inside people’s homes, I feel so humbled and honored to get to do this. Unfortunately people in Haiti still struggle with poverty and a lot of brokenness that the earthquake of 2010 left behind, however, in the middle of their poverty, they have so much joy!! Yes joy from The Lord even in the middle of tough circumstances. They have so much trust in The Lord to know knowing that He will be the one to provide for their every day need.
This week we went to a village called Titanyen, and Turpin and they were some of the poorest villages that I’ve visited so far.
On Friday when we went to Turpin, and I met a 42 year old single mother who has 5 children whom she loves and takes so good care of, she is currently unemployed, and when she has the funds and ability to plant some crops, she sells afterwards the fruit of her labor. And when she can’t plant maize or something else, she just simply trusts that The Lord will provide for her and her 5 children. She just has such beautiful faith, that gave me such an amazing example!
On Thursday we went to Titanyen, and on our last house visit, we met a lady that has 7 children and they are all under the age of 10. And what struck me the most was to see one of her oldest child washing tons of dishes on a dirt floor under the scorching sun. He is 7 years old, and technically he was acting as an adult as he helped his mom care for his little brothers, and also by washing the house dishes. When I saw him, it just broke my heart to see that he was no child, he was a little adult washing tons of dishes with only a little bit of water, and he wasn’t washing them on no sink since they don’t have one. He was washing the dirty dishes on his dirt floor, with only a small bucket of water and a tiny amount of water.
When I saw this little boy, I just felt The Lord telling me to serve this family and help out with the dishes, and as we washed that little amount of water kept on getting dirtier and dirtier, and honestly my first thought was that I wanted to throw it out and get clean water, however that was not an option since they had no more water or that was the only water that they count with. And as I sat on that dirt floor washing the dishes on that hot hot day, I felt so much joy from The Lord, for Him allowing me the opportunity to serve this family, I felt to humbled by their love, by their care for one another, by the strength this child has. And songs of joy kept on coming to my head, I don’t know how to explain the joy that I was feeling to do this, to know that this is my life, to know that I get to do this. But it’s not because of me, it’s all because of God’s love that we have opportunities to serve the least of thee.
The team that I was with was also able to talk to the woman and her family about the love of God. And she shared with us a little bit more about her family, and she asked us to pray for her and her family, especially her husband, so he could find a job and be able to provide for the family. But that regardless of the situation, she continued to trust in God, and know that He will continue to provide for her family.
Titanyen brought so much joy and happiness to my heart. That same afternoon I met a beautiful baby girl named Julie. She’s only about a 1 1/2 and she was just the cutest. She came directly towards me, and grabbed my hand and didn’t let me go all afternoon, she just claimed me! Or that’s how I felt! Other little boys and girls would come near me and would try to grab me, but she wouldn’t let them, it was as if she wanted all the love and attention for her only. Honestly as I was holding her and loving on her, not only was I loving her, but I felt so loved by her! I felt the presence of The Lord as she held my neck and would hug me and hug me tight and not let me go. I prayed for her, and just loved on her. She was just too cute, I don’t think I’ve ever experience so much love from a child before. She just broke my heart. I thank God so much for meeting her! I thank God for Haiti because I’ve had the opportunity to meet many children and grow so much love for them. They are so in need of love, and I am beyond thankful to God that I get the opportunity to love on them and let them know that above all, God loves them so much
My heart is just full of joy and love! Haiti is a beautiful county, it has beautiful people who need so much love from God! I still can’t believe that I’m here and that I get to share of His amazing love. Today is Saturday the 21st of Feb, and I can’t believe that the month is almost over! Partnering up with Mission of HOPE here in Haiti has been such a blessing, their arduous work is just amazing and I thank God that I have the opportunity to serve here.
Please pray for Haiti, so God’s love can continue to be spread and that His provision may come to this beautiful country. Also please pray for Mission of HOPE (MOH) so more supporters can help them grow, and that they can continue to empower Haitians to grow, to get out of poverty, and to spread God’s love.
