When I signed up for the World Race, I had envisioned that in each country, the ministry would look similar to that in which I did in Haiti.
So far, three months in, it’s only looked the way I had envisioned it would, once. Which is ok. It’s made me realize, that ministry can look like just about anything. It’s allowed me to remove the picture that I had allowed myself to create, for what I thought ministry should look like.. but that’s a blog for another time.
I’m writing this blog to tell you about the one time our ministry DID look the way I had envisioned it would.
At the end of this month, as we were headed to Sofia, Bulgaria, our ministry hosts took us to two Gypsy Villages. We were able to meet a group of gypsies, sing some worship songs with them, play with some of the children and pray over them. It was incredible. We were finally with little children! (If you know me at all, you know my heart was so happy!!!)
The first village we stopped at, we met a lady who had a husband and four children. We played with two of her boys, and she had a baby girl, who was almost a year old, that we cooed and smiled and giggled at. (You know the whole baby talk/noises that people do when around a baby, yeah that was us 100%). After sometime, the pastor asked me and 3 of my squad-mates to go into her home and give her a blanket and pray with her.
I want to say that I was prepared for what I was about to witness, but I honestly can’t say that I was. I don’t think I’ll ever be prepared to see that kind of living circumstances no matter how many more times I see it in my lifetime. It was a very small, 4 walled, square home. It had two beds that were about the size of a twin bed. It was hot inside. It was dirty. And the flies. There were about 50 million flies. Immediately after we walked through the door, into her home, the flies began to land all over us. Her oldest son was sick, he was asleep on one of the beds. There were flies all over him. They were around his mouth and on his lips. They were in his nose. And bless his heart, he was sleeping through it all.
We were able to circle up inside their home, hold hands and pray blessings over their house. We prayed and declared healing over the boy’s body, and the baby girl, who was also sick. We gave the Momma the thick blanket in hopes that it will keep her family warm during the cold winter. I walked out of their home, and the only thing I could think was how absolutely heart breaking that just was.
At the second village, there were little kids with no socks or shoes on. Some had capris on. Others had pants and a long sleeve, but no jacket. Their clothes had holes in them. It was about 40 degrees outside and extremely windy. We were all bundled up in socks and shoes, pants, layers upon layers of shirts, and wearing jackets, and we were all still freezing. It was extremely hard to watch and to witness.
This day brought back, the all too familiar, gut wrenching, heart breaking feelings of sadness and anger, and questions of why them Lord?
As we walked out of the last village, my friend Madie looked at me and she said, “Isn’t it crazy how that could’ve easily been one of us? We were just blessed enough to be born in the United States and to have the parents and the lives that we do, but that could’ve been us.”
I’ve thought about that exact question every time I’ve gone to Haiti, but it was a great reminder this day. A reminder that I desperately needed. I’ve found over the last three months while being in Europe, that it’s been easy to become comfortable and complacent, if I’m not being careful and intentional about where my heart is. We have been so blessed during our time in Eastern Europe, from our living arrangements, to the food we’ve been able to eat, to having hot water, to having showers and toilets, and having beds. It’s been incredible and I’m extremely thankful for all of these blessings that we’ve had.
But if I’m being honest, I long for the uncomfortable places. It’s in these moments, when we rely fully on the Lord’s strength, peace and comfort. It creates space for the Lord to move and work in our lives, as He wills.
It was a great day. A humbling day. Seeing how joyful they are, with so little, will forever blow my mind. They know true joy. My eyes were re-opened. My perspective was re-focused. My heart was re-aligned.
All I could do, when leaving the village, was thank the Lord. For the life that I have, for the blessings that He has blessed me with, for the time that we got that day to love on His children, for the opportunity to shine a light in the darkness and for a chance to tell them of the Hope that we have in Jesus.
As I finish writing this blog, I’m reminded of a powerful truth, that our God is GREATER than ALL things. He is WORTHY of our praise, even when things don’t make sense to us.
Thanks for reading.
xoxo,
Madison
**We leave Europe tomorrow, and head to Asia!! We fly out of Sofia, Bulgaria tomorrow night, we’ll have a one hour flight to Istanbul, Turkey, where we’ll then have a two hour layover, and then we’ll get on a ten hour flight to Malaysia for Month 4!!! Please be praying for my squad as we have a lot of traveling to do the next few days. Thank you all!!!**
