I should start this blog by saying that our Mentor signs her emails and says goodbyes with, ” Go talk to strangers! “
I mean, how else does the Gospel move without our feet, ya know?!
So our host drops us off on a dirt road with tin huts and lots of kids running around. Our mission was to tell people about Jesus. We asked the Lord before arriving, “what is your will for us here?” and we heard things like ‘red shirt’ ‘sitting’, we saw visions of gardens and babies riding on their mommas backs. Someone said, we are supposed to help them tangibly, help them do something.
After about an hour of sharing with practically every person we saw (because our translator wanted errrrbody to hear about Jesus!), when I saw some older women carrying 5 gallon buckets that were empty. In Haiti, running water is an elite privilege most don’t have. Most people walk anywhere from 5 minutes to 2 hours to get fresh water. I asked our translator if we could help them. The ladies laughed at us! They told us it was far away. As we debate what to do, as we have to be back for our ride at a certain time, we decide we want to know if they know Jesus, and our translator starts chasing after them through the jungle. Guess we are going to get water!
Walking in a single file line through some dense bushes, the two girls in front take turn asking the translator to ask the women questions. Our translator gets a work out running forwards and backwards trying to keep conversation going. At the watering hole, where we all catch up and hear that they do know Jesus, we try asking more questions but are met with dead end answers or no answers at all. In my head, I said “That’s fine. She can’t run forever, I’m gonna carry this bucket and she’s going to have to talk to us!”
When we arrive at the crossroad for them to walk one way and us another, I tell our translator to tell the women that I would be praying for their relationship with Jesus. They looked a little confused. My teammate Sarah goes on to explain what a relationship with Jesus is.
Having a relationship with Jesus sets you free from the bondage this world has on you, the wages of sin that separate you from our Heavenly Father. Having a relationship with Jesus invites you into a place of communion with God, to enjoy life and the grace that was given for you at the cross.
As Sarah is speaking another woman walks up, a nonbeliever we later found out, who starts grinning as she hears that she can have freedom in Jesus. Sarah asks if they want to have a relationship with Jesus. They all three say yes.
What started off as a random act of kindness turned into a divine appointment for three Haitian women, nine Americans, and one translator.
In our time praying with those women, we sparked a crowd. We had women coming from the hospital ask us to pray over their stomachs that were full of pain. We had a women come up to us with noticeable shame, who told us she was fearful and ashamed because she wasn’t living a God centered life.
Fires catching in Haiti.
Go talk to strangers!
