About a week ago I traveled to Fon Parisien, close to the
Dominican border, to meet up with thirty World Racers. This was the start of P-Squad’s year long
journey around the world. We all spent
the night at a place called Haitian Christian Mission and then headed out the
next morning on an old school bus to get everyone to their ministry locations
for the month.
We loaded the bus around 9:30am heading west and dropped
teams off along the way. We reached our
final destination at 5:30pm. I didn’t
know exactly where we were going, but I knew how to get us close. Once we got nearby, I got off the bus with
our translator and started to try and get information on who we were looking
for and where to go. As I was talking to
different people and seeming to get nowhere, I looked over and saw the eight
people that were still traveling with me start to get off the bus. A few minutes later they had drawn a crowd
from the tent village right next to where we pulled off. They were playing games and laughing together
even though they couldn’t communicate with spoken words.
teams off along the way. We reached our
final destination at 5:30pm. I didn’t
know exactly where we were going, but I knew how to get us close. Once we got nearby, I got off the bus with
our translator and started to try and get information on who we were looking
for and where to go. As I was talking to
different people and seeming to get nowhere, I looked over and saw the eight
people that were still traveling with me start to get off the bus. A few minutes later they had drawn a crowd
from the tent village right next to where we pulled off. They were playing games and laughing together
even though they couldn’t communicate with spoken words.
I just smiled and my frustration from not knowing where to
go melted away. I realized that this is
what the race is about. When you travel,
make plans and have a schedule in third-world countries, you better be
expecting to have things change. I was
reminded that I didn’t have to have a flawless transition for this team. Sometime no matter how well you plan
something and no matter how many times you go over how it should work….it doesn’t
happen. And what I like about the race
is you learn that every circumstance is a chance to do “ministry.” You don’t have to have a set time or a
certain plan; sometimes you just make the best with what you have.
go melted away. I realized that this is
what the race is about. When you travel,
make plans and have a schedule in third-world countries, you better be
expecting to have things change. I was
reminded that I didn’t have to have a flawless transition for this team. Sometime no matter how well you plan
something and no matter how many times you go over how it should work….it doesn’t
happen. And what I like about the race
is you learn that every circumstance is a chance to do “ministry.” You don’t have to have a set time or a
certain plan; sometimes you just make the best with what you have.
Once our ride finally came to take us to our site, we said
goodbye to our new friends and headed off. But the next few days as we traveled around to work, we kept seeing
familiar faces smiling at us. The kids
we had played with would get really excited and wave to us as we rode past in
the back of our truck. We ended up doing a lot of work near that place we had
stopped and we were able to continue interacting with those kids and their
families. I thought it was a neat, hour
long interaction when our bus stopped there, but it’s cool how God has developed
those relationships even further than I had imagined. I’m glad this team didn’t miss that
opportunity…even though they should have been exhausted from all the traveling
they had been doing for the past few days. Father, please let us see the opportunities you set before us. And when God shows us these things let’s not
make excuses as to why this isn’t a good time, or why we can’t engage right
now, or how we’ll do it next time.
goodbye to our new friends and headed off. But the next few days as we traveled around to work, we kept seeing
familiar faces smiling at us. The kids
we had played with would get really excited and wave to us as we rode past in
the back of our truck. We ended up doing a lot of work near that place we had
stopped and we were able to continue interacting with those kids and their
families. I thought it was a neat, hour
long interaction when our bus stopped there, but it’s cool how God has developed
those relationships even further than I had imagined. I’m glad this team didn’t miss that
opportunity…even though they should have been exhausted from all the traveling
they had been doing for the past few days. Father, please let us see the opportunities you set before us. And when God shows us these things let’s not
make excuses as to why this isn’t a good time, or why we can’t engage right
now, or how we’ll do it next time.
