Unfortunately, due to a couple extremes (getting sick and
then preparing for a trip to the other side of the world) this blog has not
been on the top of my to do list.
However, the sickness gave me more time to reflect, and the 16 and 9
hour flight gave me time to type.. so here I am!
On June 5th, 5 Blue Grass students, 1 recent Blue
Grass graduate, my dad, Cameron (my best friend) and myself all left for
Haiti. This marks my 5th trip
to Haiti, but it was the first trip for 4 of the students! I knew God had big plans for this trip before
we even left. He opened so many doors in
the planning process from raising money, to getting necessary approvals, to
raising donations, to still providing when one of the students was rejected for
a passport. His hand was evident is so
many ways.
Boy did HE have plans for this trip. Both this team and the trip were
amazing. Not only was the team the hands
and feet of Jesus, but they were also the voice of truth in a country that so
desperately needs the truth. This team
went beyond just serving the people, and truly exemplified Christ through
ministering to the people. As a leader,
I loved watching them overcoming the culture shock and stepping into what
really needed to be done: spreading the Word of God.
This change was most evident to me our fourth day in Haiti
when we went to La Baie.
Saint-Louis-du-Nord, where the main campus is stationed, is in the
northwest zone of Haiti. The northwest
zone is the poorest zone in Haiti, which is the poorest country in the Western
Hemisphere. By our standards,
Saint-Louis is the definition of poverty.
However, by La Baie standards, Saint-Louis is a mansion. The drive to La Baie is about 2 hours, and on
the way you go from lush tropical scenery to desert scenery. Then you get to La Baie, and it looks like
the place they film on all those sad tv commercials. La Baie is where grass huts are a
reality. La Baie is where it is rare to
see a child who is not malnourished. La
Baie is where the students fell in love with Haiti.
Northwest has a campus at La Baie that houses about 40
orphan boys. We spent time with them,
and everyone on the team thoroughly enjoyed getting attached to them. They are such fun kids to be around. However, after spending the morning and early
afternoon with them, our day was just getting started. Last year, we did a hut to hut ministry at La
Baie. We hiked up in the mountains where
the poverty keeps getting worse even when you think it cannot get any
worse. The memories of the families we met
on this journey have stuck with last year’s team every since. About a month before we left, God told me had
more in store for this year’s trip to La Baie.
Not only did he want us to hike back up this mountain for more hut to
huts, but he wanted us to bring groceries with us as part of our ministry. Through money from a donation taken up at
school, we purchased 6 bags of groceries at the market. (This was also an experience for the team as
the market makes our farmer’s market look like paradise). I love doing this because while we will
eventually use the groceries to bless families, by purchasing them at the
market, we are putting back into the local economy.
We started up the mountain at the hottest part of the day
carrying these extremely heavy bags (filled with everything: flour, sugar,
noodles, beans, rice, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, bleach, etc.). Boy was it exhausting, but the reward was
incredible. We were able to reconnect
with some of the families we had previously met, and bring a little relief for
them in Jesus’s name. Not only were we
able to tell them God sent us with groceries for them, but at each house a
different student shared the gospel with these families and prayed over them. THAT is what we went to Haiti for.
While each of the 6 families we were able to share with were
special, there were two that stuck out: a high and a low. The high was a house we had visited last
year. Last year they asked us to pray
over their sick daughter that she would get better and be able to go to
school. Not only did this family report
that their daughter was healthy, but she was also attending school in
Port-au-Prince. What an answered prayer! While God had said yes to that prayer,
sometimes He says no. Last year we
visited a house where the mother was very sick.
She was laying in the middle of the floor in misery. We prayed over her and begged God to heal
her. However, when God took us to that
house this year, the father informed us she had passed away. I’m not sure why this was and still is so
hard for me to understand. One of the
students shared an amazing devotion about overcoming hardships through
Christ. There was not a dry eye there. I’m not sure how to put in words the emotions
that were felt in that house. While the
sadness was overwhelming, from the group and the family; God’s presence was
there. He sent us back to that house for
a reason, and I pray we were a sliver of comfort in what I am sure has been one
of the hardest years for them.
We finished that day doing two Vacation Bible Schools: one
for the neighborhood where we had 185 kids, and one for the orphan boys. Each was uniquely special. While this was a crazy busy day, this is the
day that I watched the team become missionaries: people striving to serve God
by spreading the gospel. That was the
most rewarding thing of the trip for me.
The other rewarding part of my trip came from the group that
holds a special place in my heart: the bracelet boys. This is the group that has tugged at my heart
since my first trip before they were even the bracelet boys. This past year God has put a ministry in my
heart to create prayer warriors for these boys.
This ministry is currently in the works, and I would love to share more
about it with you if you are interested!
Part of this ministry involved getting to know each of the bracelet boys
even more than I already did. It meant
sitting down with each one individually and finding out their personal stories. Wow.
While I knew most of these boys already, I did not know many of their
stories. I did not how each one got to
the place they are at today, and boy did it make me even more passionate about
this ministry. These boys have been
through so much from parents dying to giving up food in order to go to
school. Their struggles are something I
will never be able to relate to; however, hearing them has made me appreciate
these boys even more.
Not only did I get to sit down with each of these boys, but
we also had a group Bible study with them.
One of the boys on the team led it, and did an amazing job. I have never seen the boys so attentive and
receptive. At the end of the Bible study
the team split up and each bracelet boy was prayed over individually. While I know this is something no one on the
team will ever forget, I also believe these boys will never forget that moment
either. God was moving in that chapel.
This trip had serving in it.
From getting on our hands and knees to wash the feet of the elderly, to
standing up for the special needs kids who are so looked down upon, to loving
children all around the northwest zone, the team served the Haitian people and
therefore served God everyday. This trip
had teaching in it. From the grocery
ministry to bible study with the bracelet boys, to sharing the gospel at the
jail, to sharing with the brothel ministry, this team taught about Jesus’s
sacrifice. However, the biggest part of
this trip was prayer. There is always a
reason to pray, and this team took advantage of that. We prayed over the bracelet boys. We prayed over numerous people with
chikungunya. We prayed over the people
we encountered in the jail and then went outside to pray for the corruption of
the jail system. We prayed for each other. We prayed for different families. I cannot think of anything better we could
have done. It was in these moments, in
these prayer circles, in these hands that were laid on people where I saw the
team’s heart break for Haiti and for the Haitian people.
As a leader, this was a rewarding and an encouraging trip
for me. God used this team, and I truly
believe He will continue to use this team both back home and maybe in Haiti
again one day. On a personal level, this
trip was such a blessing for me. I was
able to reconnect and grow closer with my Haitian friends. I was able to pray for the safety and
protection of my Haitian family. I was
able to discuss my future in Haiti with Northwest staff.
On a closing note, I ask for prayers in two major
areas. The first is prayer for me. I have a lot of big decisions to make these
next few months about my future. While I
know God will lead me in the right direction, I can’t help but be a little
nervous about it all. The second, and
biggest prayer request, is for the Haitian people. Chikungunya is taking over Haiti. Every day I saw more and more of my friends
come down with it. While this disease is
rarely deadly, it is absolutely miserable.
I was miserable, and I was in the States for half of this sickness. I ask that you pray for the people who are
coming down with it. The people who have
high fevers in the already hot climate.
The people who still have to hike up and down mountains with the severe
joint pain. The people who do not know
what cold beverages are. The people who
do not have access to Tylenol. Pray for
the people who are suffering.
