As Jen, Brynn, and I prepare to return from Haiti to the US for Christmas break we return with feelings as if we are returning from college….the College of REAL life. And we all agree that we have learned so much during these 4 months of living in Haiti.
Big Lesson 1 - We Are Exactly Where God Wants Us To Be.
Two years ago if someone would have asked us where we would be in 2 years…"living in Haiti" would not have rolled off our our tongues as a quick response. Although God has definitely “parked our hearts” in Haiti for awhile now, our desire has never been just to “live in Haiti”. Our desire has always been to follow Christ where He leads us. It has been an incredible journey living in Haiti these last 4 months - days filled with laughter, joy, tears, unexpected situations, comical communication situations and many, many hours sitting in the dark (literally).
Some might ask, “Is it just like being on an extended A Door to Hope Mission Trip?” Our quick answer we be….umm NO!
“Is it exactly like you anticipated?”…umm No!
"Are you perfectly fitted to be missionaries in Haiti…um No!" (But YES! when we are walking in the power of His Spirit in our lives - He gives us everything we need.)
“Are you returning to live in Haiti in January…umm YES! Brynna will not join our return to Haiti in January. She has enrolled in College in Nashville and staying with some dear friends of ours in White House, TN. She loves Haiti and will return during school breaks to visit us often (hint,hint).
Big Lesson 2 - Real and Successful Missions Work in Haiti is Surprisingly Complicated and More Difficult than Most of us Want to Admit, and Even More Difficult to Evaluate.
If you have spent much time in Haiti you may have noticed that Haitians love to build stone walls. There is a beautiful masterpiece of a wall right near the airport. There are walls everywhere being built to mark land territory or even as guard rails along the roads. These stones are unearthed as the Haitians are farming and building and the stones are set aside specifically to be used for walls. There is a large wall being built now near our home in Fermathe, Haiti and each day I walk past the men working on shaping the stones and building the wall from these odd shaped stones and it somehow all comes together like a jigsaw puzzle does... into something beautiful. Here is a pic of the wall being built near our home.
Watching the Haitians work so diligently on these walls, I’ve wondered.."why don’t they just use concrete to build the wall and be done with it?” One day as I was walking past the wall near our home I realized that the slow, steady, complicated, and diligent work that went into building each wall was so much like doing ministry in Haiti. If you are willing to take the time in ministry to do the slow, steady, complicated, diligent work, and be very patient…..you will eventually begin to see God make it into something useful and beautiful.
Big Lesson 3 - We Have So Much to Learn
After spending 4 months living in Haiti, some might think that we have “arrived” and have it all figured out about doing ministry in Haiti. Jen, Brynn and I will tell you that the truth is….the more we learn about Haiti and the Haitian people, the more we realize that we have so much still to learn. Learning facts, history, and the Kreyole Language is one thing…..truly understanding a people, their culture and how to most effectively minister to them is entirely something different. Please pray for us as we continue to learn.
Big Lesson 4 - As Expected the A Door to Hope Ministry is Certainly More effective with Staff In-Country
Just as with the stone walls that I mentioned above, relationships, trust, and understanding take time to build but yield beautiful results. It is common in America to run into friends in places like the mall, the coffee shop, or even a ball game. It is always good to catch up and maintain/build the friendships. As a matter of fact, we really don’t think much about these unexpected meetings most of the time. The other day as I am walking down the road near our home, I looked up and saw Pastor Echelet from Calebasse Church walking toward me as he was traveling somewhere. We stopped and spoke together. Not long ago I jumped into a public tap-tap to catch a ride further up the mountain only to find Pastor Ezekiel from the Kenscoff Church siting across from me. We laughed and talked together. What opportunities we have now to build friendships, trust, and commitment in what A Door to Hope does in Haiti. Never before were we able to jump on a moto and run up to Calebasse to check on the school and oversee the A Class Act School Co-Sponsorship program. Never before have we been able to return to visit our Block of Hope homes to follow-up with the families to ensure that a spiritual foundation is being laid after the physical foundation of the home is finished. Being constantly aware of needs that arise with Pastors, Churches, Schools, and families and being able to immediately respond increases the effectiveness of what we do here exponentially.
Big Lesson 5 - Choose Your Street Vendors Carefully
At this point, the Wards still do not have a functioning refrigerator so having meat with any meal is a treat for us as it doesn’t happen often. Pasta has been our staple food to fix at the house for most meals - spaghetti, elbow noodles, ramaan noodles…etc... Yes, even for breakfast at times especially since we have finally ran out of Cliff bars...
Brynna and I recently enjoyed a delicious meal of chicken, rice/beans,and picklies from a street vendor that was recommended by a friend. Several hours later we were reevaluating that friendship :) Enough said.
A VERY special word of thanks to EVERY ONE of you who have prayed for us, with us, and kept up with us in any way. We certainly could not have made it without your prayers, support and encouragement. We would love to sit down with each and every one of you and share the stories that didn't go to "print". If only time could stand STILL as we stop in each city during our "Christmas break"... we would! If you can catch us - please do. We'd love to hug your neck and share a cup or two of coffee and laugh, cry and try to catch up with where you've seen the Lord working in your lives over these past few months. Just don't invite us for Haitian Chicken, rice/beans, or picklies anytime soon.
"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is Your love, reaching to the heavens: Your faithfulness reaches to the skies." Psalm 57
One of our favorite "Verse of the Day" from our small group at the Church in Pleasant Grove. We're coming coming home... coming home... tell the world, we're coming home...
No comments:
Post a Comment