Our time in Haiti was cut short, but that doesn’t mean God wasn’t at work. The two weeks we got to spend in Haiti I learned so much about the God we serve. It was incredible.
We were blessed with a home to stay in while in Haiti. Our contact Pastor John opened the doors of his home for 14 of us. His wife along with a few other women also blessed us by preparing traditional Haitian food for us. The food was so delicious!
Sleeping arrangements were pretty tight in the room, so I along with a few others, decided to pitch our tents on the roof. I think I forgot to mention some very important detail. If you stood on the roof and looked to the left you would be facing the OCEAN! I swear Pastor John had one of the most beautiful views in the world. Each morning I woke up in Haiti I was greeted by the sun rising up over the mountain. In the midst of all the brokenness of Haiti, I felt a lot of peace while I was there.
Most nights while I was falling asleep I had the opportunity to watch storms as they pasted by at sea. It was like clockwork, every night I’d look to the sea and my eyes would see the most amazing light show ever. The storms never hit land, they’d just seem to get close enough for us to be captivated by there beauty.
One night as I was laying there watching the beauty of God’s hand at work a question popped into my mind.
“God, why did you create thunder and lightening?”
I pondered that question for a while, laying there waiting for a reply. My eyes were getting heavy. I rolled over and soon was asleep.
The next day at ministry we did some prayer walks. Basically prayer walks were going into the community around us and talking to people about Jesus. We had a translator with us to aid in talking to the local people.
We came to a man and started talking to him. I asked him if he liked soccer. He nodded in agreement. Than I asked what team he was rooting for. (The world cup was beginning in 3 days.) Soon our conversation turned to Jesus. He said he knew about Jesus and that he wanted to start turning his life around. The lady that was sitting next to him said that he wasn’t really walking on the “good path.” The way he talked it was as though he thought he needed to shape up to be accepted by Jesus.
Something happened in my heart while I was talking to this man that has never happened before. There was a fire. I had this burning desire for this man to know Jesus. He needed to know Jesus. I wanted him to know the Jesus I know. It was hard with the language, but I tried to explain just who Jesus was. It seemed like no words I could say would even begin to explain what Jesus did for me. But I tried.
I explained that I am a sinner and I am nothing. But God loved me so much that He knew we needed someone to step in and save us. That was Jesus. He was the one who took on my sins and died for me. I also explained that Jesus did it for him too. I also explained that there is nothing we can do to earn forgiveness for our sins. It was a gift and all we have to do is receive it.
I don’t know exactly what this man understood, but I felt I said everything I could. There was only one thing left I wanted to do. I wanted to pray for him. I knelt down in front of him and took a hold of his hands. I closed my eyes and began to pray. I don’t remember exactly what all a prayed for, but I just asked that God would continue to pursue this man so he could know just who Jesus was. I also prayed for this mans eyes to be open to all that God had to show him.
I came to a point in my prayer were I paused. I fell silent. It was in that exact moment that God let me know that He was listening. There was a loud roar of thunder that was so strong that it rumbled the ground. A smile appeared on my face, and I was speechless.
God had answered my prayer from the other night. He let me know that He created thunder and lightening to bring glory to His name. It was thee coolest moment ever! No one else around me understood the impact of that rumble. God is all powerful. He is the one who commands the thunder. He is the one who directs the path of the lightening. He is the one who placed me in front of this man to tell him about His son. He is the one who sent His son to die for our sins.
He is so amazing. Nothing or no one can compare to Him.
He is the one and only God.
I finished out my prayer and opened my eyes. I looked into the eyes of that man and I knew he knew that something amazing just happened. I just couldn’t stop smiling. God was reveling Himself to this man and I got to witness it. It was the most beautiful thing in the world.
This is what life is all about. It is about sharing with the world about Jesus. It isn’t hard at all. I don’t know what I was afraid of it before. It is easy to talk about the most amazing person in your life. I’ll admit, this was my first time ever really telling someone about Jesus. I was so blessed by this opportunity, I don’t ever want to stop.
