Things I absolutely love about being a missionary in Haiti?
1. God’s nature and beauty.
2. Occasionally having electricity….ok, well if we’re lucky we have electricity from 6pm to midnight, most nights.
3. Being able to flush without needing a bucket…though we have to fill the tank up with water if we run out of water.
4. Having an actual shower head, and sometimes, having water that is a bit warm instead of ice cold.
5. Walking distance to a café that has cheeseburgers, fries, and Coca-Cola
6. Holding baby goats and petting piglets.
7. Seeing the bright ocean while inviting locals to services.
8. Exchanging money on the street.
9. Going to the doctor for less than $7.00 American Money.
10. Getting prescriptions for IV’s and injections, to do yourself when you get home.
11. Translators that benefit from missionaries with open hearts.
12. Not wearing pants because pants represent prostitution.
13. Sitting on the roof and soaking in all of God’s presence and love as He shines the moon and the stars on my face.
14. Being “Nurse Renee'” for my teammates.
15. Sleeping on the floor and waking up with more insect bites.
16. Hand washing clothes.
17. Purified water.
18. Candy juice= purified water (we hope) + pineapple juice mix+ tangerine juice mix=melted smarty’s juice.
19. Listening. Just stopping and listening to what God says.
20. The smell of burning trash and burning plastic.
21. Running out of water.
22. Dogs that actually are pets.
23. Baby chicks.
24. Palm Trees
25. Mountains.
26. Clouds
27. Stars
28. Moon
29. Breeze
30. Cows everywhere!
31. Random insect bites on body parts that are not exposed.
32. Not being confused for a local.
33. Trying to speak Spanish to people who speak French.
34. The illegal use of a cell phone in the Bank.
35. People who answer the door without any clothes.
I absolutely love being in Haiti. When we first arrived here I thought I would be facing tons of spiritual darkness and being amongst the poorest of poor, but instead, God searched my heart and brought me to Jacmel! It is beautiful here! This is definitely not the poorest of places. We are in a beautiful part of Haiti. There is a beach very near that is so blue! There are mountains everywhere you look and palm trees growing out of every end of Jacmel! God’s presence is unmistakable and remarkable! He is so present and so perfect! What a blessing it is! I love waking up at 6 am due to the roosters who start at about midnight and continue throughout the night. I love waking up at 3 am and God has brought me a gift, the moon, as it hangs outside of my window every night simply for me!
We had been doing evangelical ministry and inviting people out to a service we would be doing at 4 pm daily. We would do skits and present the Gospel. We are now doing VBS for about 60 children. I am very excited to be doing this but also because we are working with another group of French people who are doing their DTS and they are absolutely beautiful women (and a man). I am excited to do VBS and to see what God is doing in all of these kids. We go out and invite kids ages 5 to 11 to come from 2 pm to 5 pm for VBS. We did not have many children today, maybe 20 but that includes the YWAM kids. But I am sure that we will have more tomorrow. I am really just excited about what we are getting to do. We are getting to share with the children all the fun things we did at VBS and teach of them of Jesus and why Jesus loves them and why He would die for their sins and that they do not have to be “legalist” about certain things.
On a personal level, I really feel this month being a month when God is having me pour more of myself out into my teammates but not really being poured into by others, which is fine, after all, I am suppose to be pouring out. I feel like this month is a month for relaxation and to find renewed strength. This month has been about taking care of people. I have taken care of Dave, I have prayed over Di and Anna. I have taken care of Stephanie and of Erica and of course, trying to take care of myself, now that has been really tough. I really am just learning to be patient. To listen to Him alone….everyone else is just an opinion.
