A few weeks after the earthquake hit in Haiti, I started talking with people about their experiences down here. My dad told me about the spiritual shift the country had taken and remarked how incredible the Haitians’ posture was toward God. Especially after so many had been dedicated to voodooism. I read blogs like this one and this one that broke my heart and caused something to rise up from within me, demanding that “Things should not be this way!”
Eventually I made plans to come here for the summer to be a part of what God was doing. I looked forward to getting involved in the community of leaders here, I looked forward to participating on a World Race relief trip for the month of June, and I looked forward to helping a people in need. Above all of this, though, I looked forward to exploring new depths in my covenantal relationship with Aaron Bruner.
When I say covenantal, I mean mutual dedication and commitment for life; I mean preferring each other above ourselves; I mean Jonathan and David.
We started down this road together a little over two years ago while in Swaziland on the World Race. Check out what Aaron wrote about it then. Neither of us really knew what we were getting ourselves into, but we knew in our spirits it was right. For the rest of the race we supported each other and spurred each other on… at least some. We tried to be uplifting and see the best in each other. Looking back, though, I think we were both dealing with a lot of issues individually and weren’t in a place to be able to invest fully in our relationship. It was like we were running fullspeed along a road filled with potholes, blind. Fortunately, though, we serve a gracious and loving God!
After the race, we kept in touch pretty well, but only as good friends. After nearly two years, though, I began to feel anxious about us coming together to build our relationship again. Just like I knew in my spirit that this was right in Swaziland, I knew it was right that we come back together for a time.
The Lord looked out for us through it all. We were paired together to guide this community of Short Term Missions leaders here and looked forward to the partnership. As the WR relief trip approached, a ministry contact fell through, which led the way to a team being dropped and me being taken back to partner with Aaron on the World Race side of things as well.
Since coming here, it’s been clear that Aaron sees the best in me. He encourages me, he instructs me, he supports me and he promotes me. I’m convinced he really does want what’s best for me and will look out for me, even at his own expense. I strive to do the same.
When I sit back and think about all of this, I realize how blessed we are to have this at twenty-five years young.
What an adventure life is! It’s one my greatest joys to go through it with such an honorable, passionate, faithful and inspiring man.
