Hello there sweet people! What an amazing season of life this is where I get the opportunity to see God’s faithfulness right in front of my eyes. I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported and encouraged me this far. I want to continue to ask for prayer and support if you feel led. Thank you Thank you Thank you. God is so good. wooooooooooooo!!!!!!!
This post is completely dedicated to my missions trip to Haiti. In June of 2018 I had the amazing opportunity to travel to the incredible country of Haiti with 15 of the most amazing people ever (not kidding!! These people are something else! I could go on and on about them but I am just going to leave it at i really love everyone that was on my team and they are very very veryyyyyyy special to me). I learned so much in just a weeks time. Here is a list of a few things that I learned straight from my journal from that week:
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Community!!!
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Fear -> do it
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Guacamole is a blessing
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The power of prayer
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The importance of encouragement
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The good line bad line game
I have two stories to share with you. Fun fact…I love to tell stories. So if you ever wanna go to taco bell or starbucks and just tell stories I am always down for a good story telling session. 🙂 Anyway, the first story I have to tell you is about our very first day in Haiti. On this day my team and I were having team time, where we would go over the schedule for the next day and also pray for a specific person each day. We did this every single night. As our team leader was talking about what our week was going to look like and what our plan was for the next day, he randomly asked me if I would be willing to share a Bible story at one of the orphanage we were going to. I said, “who me?!?” It was really out of the blue and at first I wanted to say no, but I didn’t have time to think about it really so I just went for it and said yes!! I was instantly scared about it. He asked me to tell the story of Daniel in the lion’s den. That night I talked it through with my youth pastor and I was so excited, but still very fearful. I remember sitting in my room with all my sweet roomies and telling them “guys, ministry is becoming real. This is all getting real.” They were all so encouraging. The next day we went to 2 orphanage one in the morning called Home Sweet Home and another one later in the day called For His Glory. When we got to For His Glory, we immediately started playing with kids. Before my team left, our leader came up to me and told me to go up front and tell the Bible story. I told the story with the help from a translator and it was so cool to hear the Bible in the different language. Then throughout the week we went to a couple other orphanages. One day we went to an orphanage called La Loo. My whole team loved this place and made such great connections her. Again we were all playing with kids and having a blast. Then my leader came up to me again and asked if I would be willing to share the story again, and do a craft with it this time. I had no idea that I would be sharing it again, but I said yes and I did it. It was so awesome to tell the kids there that Jesus loves them and He is protecting them always. Instead of feeling fear I started to feel peace. It was such a fun and impacting experience that I will never forget. Through this experience God taught me that through Him I am adequate. God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.
The second story I have for you is when my heart was stolen by this little boy who was a total stranger to me. Never thought this would happen to me. On our trip we had a whole day called water truck day. On this day we gathered together and drove to a city called Cite Soleil. This name literally translates to city of garbage. We were able to go to two water stops and bring clean water to those people living there. At our first stop we had no idea what to expect. We all jumped off the tap tap (our really cool form of transportation that I described as a county fair ride on wheels. It was the best!) and started filling up buckets with water to those who were waiting in line. The people anxiously waited for us to come and help them fill their buckets that they bring and carry them to their homes. The second I got there I met a sweet little boy whose name was mysonbenzi (I have no idea how to spell it, so I am going to spell it how it sounds:) He was wearing a navy blue t-shirt that had one big pink heart on it and four little hearts surrounding it. He was wearing light brown pants that he rolled up to his knees and no shoes. This little kid had a huge smile. Once we met each other, he instantly jumped on my back. He helped me fill buckets and carry them. I got to meet his friends and his family because he was so kind and willing to show me around where he lived. He was so proud of it. He never told me exactly, but I would guess that this boy was around eight years old. The first thing and only thing we knew about each other were our names, I asked him his name and he asked mine and all we did while we were together was say each others name over and over again. That is how we bonded and it was so sweet to see him so interested in spending time with me, but he only knew my name. My team started to say our goodbyes and got back on the tap tap to leave. Every place we went to we took quite a while saying our goodbyes. I said goodbye to my new friend and all he kept saying was my name over and over and over again. I got on the tap tap and waved at him and as we drove away he kept yelling my name and yep you guess it, i cried. haha! He was very precious to me. Another sweet moment that was very simple, but one that will never be forgotten.
I hope you enjoyed this little piece of my heart. I wanted to share these stories with you because of the great impact they had on me. I hope you feel encouraged. I am so thankful for Haiti and all that it taught me and the amazing people I served alongside of while I was there. Haiti, you are beautiful.
Stay Golden <3
with love & joy,
Leanna Murphy
