Wasteland Adventures: Breaking my Heart Again

In the days since my last post it feels like I have experienced every array of human emotion possible. It has been a very trying few weeks. I had been hitting the “mid-summer slump.” It is the week in the middle of the summer where you are worn down and exhausted and still have a month and a half to go. It was hard to make myself really experience life. It is so easy to sit in my bed in our little room and be alone and not invest in anyone. But I am so lucky to have people around me who challenged me to continue doing ministry. But on July 2, a team from my home church, Sent Life Church, got to Haiti. That team was much needed! It was so great to have my church family come and serve alongside NWHCM. It was refreshing to be around them.

We also had some amazing times of ministry. We did VBS two days in a row for the kids of Anse-a-felour, the voodoo capital of Haiti. The first day we went to the voodoo monument to share about spiritual warfare and the reality of voodoo. So often Americans think voodoo is like Princess and the Frog or a little beat up doll that people poke with needles. That is not the kind of voodoo that the Haitian people face every day. These people face the all out power of Satan each morning when they wake up and each night as they try to fall asleep. These people are paralyzed by fear and by what they can’t see. They are blinded by such deep darkness. It is so hard for me to comprehend. I have never grown up being told that curses are real or that creatures come and kill children at night but that is what is taught to these people from the day they are born. It is so real to them. The power of Satan attacks their minds constantly. As we were up on the monument, two men walked up to light a candle in order to heal their friend who was sick. To see with my own two eyes the extent to which these people are trapped was so eye opening. It truly broke my heart for the Haitian people once more. After that we went out for our first day of VBS. We went out to a new community that one of our Haitian pastors is planting a church in. We got to share how God made each person special with about 100 kids. We also got to meet a cute and wild little girl named Benjina that my dad had met in February. Benjina had some eye problems and the eye surgery team that was at the Mission was able to help her. I had heard so much about her but to actually meet her was so cool! She had so much spunk. Definitely one of the coolest little girls I’ve met! When we first walked up to the soccer field where our VBS was going to be held I saw a little girl all by herself so I picked her up (If you know me you know it isn’t strange that I picked up this little girl I had never met.) Her name was Brianna. Literally the most beautiful little girl ever! So sweet with such a soft spirit! And for some reason we became best friends. The second day we were driving through the town and kids were chasing our truck following us to VBS. When I hopped off the truck my friend Brianna was there to greet me with a sweet smile. She was so adorable and just wanted to cuddle. It was awesome! We had 115 kids at our second day of VBS where we shared how Jesus makes us clean. Not to mention that many of the parents stayed around to hear the Gospel.

Not only was our ministry amazing but sharing that experience with my church family, with kids who I am currently investing in, with people who are investing in me, made the trip so much more meaningful to me.

We once again went to church on Sunday and then on Monday we headed out to NWHCM’s far west campus, Mole St. Nicholas (also known as The Mole). It literally was so gorgeous! It sits right on the ocean. Water was crystal clear. Can’t get much better than that! I was so excited to go there to see my baby from last year, Caleb. As soon as we got there I went to see him. He has grown so much! He is walking and talking and running and playing. All the things you expect out of 4 year old boys, that is what Caleb is doing. It was so great to see him thriving out there. So our reunion was obviously emotional for me. But then meeting all the other young orphans and to see how much they desired to be held and loved on….literally broke my heart. That was definitely my favorite place to be while I was at the Mole. Our first few days there were kinda slow. We all were still recovering from the bumpy trip out there.

One day we got to go to Preskul, a small fishing village at the very tip of the peninsula surrounding the Mole. It literally looks like something you see on National Geographic. They live in thatch huts and basically live off of fish. It takes many 3 hours to walk to clean water and 3 hours to walk back to their house. There were many malnourished children and many adults looked malnourished as well. It was so interesting to walk around and talk to the people. My group stopped and talked to a man who was bathing his little baby. He told us that he is a Christian and that he desperately wanted a church in Preskul. He told us that there are many Christians in the city but there is no pastor to lead them and love on them. That is so opposite of everything we as Americans think about church. So often we see a pastor without people but here we see people so hungry to be discipled and poured into yet no pastor that is able to lead them and know them. I ask you to be in prayer for the city in Preskul. A community of believers in a city like that, to bring life and hope to those people is priceless. Honestly, Preskul was overwhelming to me. I loved it so much but to understand that people actually live with 10 people in small huts shatters any concept I have of comfort and need.

We did the same two VBS days that we did in Anse-a-felour, in the Mole. We had 100 kids each day learn about “God made me” and “Jesus makes me clean.” It was so cool to hear the kids scream that Jesus makes them clean. It brought me to tears knowing that the Gospel was presented to them so clearly for two whole days. It was such an awesome week of ministry. We did hut to huts one day and we got to meet a sweet family. The mom's name was Eveline and her baby's name was Gabriel. We found out they were Christians so we then asked them if they had any prayer requests. Eveline's answer was simple, "Deliverance." Knowing the abuse that happens in the Haitian culture, it broke my heart to hear that her one prayer was for deliverance.

The last day we did swimming lessons with the orphanage kids. I got to help Pierreson learn how to swim. I found out how utterly sweet that 9-year old boy is! He just wanted to be loved on and love on me. By the end of my time in the Mole he felt like a younger brother to me. He is so sweet! The night before we left the Mole, I went to say goodbye to the orphanage kids. It was so emotional for me. Saying goodbye to Caleb was so hard! But I made it through without any tears. Then I saw Pierreson standing in the doorway looking so sad. I walked up to him and just held him. And I told him “Jesus loves you. And I love you. And I am going to come visit you again.” When I told him I loved him he looked surprised. And he began to cry. And so did I. He hugged me even tighter and we both just cried for a while. I had to say goodnight and let him go to sleep. It was so hard to recover. Seeing him cry because I told him I loved him just broke me. Leaving the next day was so hard. I just wanted to love on all the kids even more. I wanted to get the chance to tell each of them that I love them. I want them to know that Jesus loves them.

Since being back in St. Louis du Nord I have been taking it easy trying to recover from the trip. The next teams have already arrived and are doing great. We have a team that comes and gives weddings to couples in the community. We got to witness this team give 5 couples weddings that they could not have otherwise. In Haiti, if a couple is not married it is severely looked down upon. Many Christians cannot participate in discipleship because they are not married. It is truly life changing to give someone a wedding. It was so beautiful to see the couples begin their life together. Today, I went down to the Nutrition Program to hang out with some of the kids. I have been trying to get this one boy named Jean to love me. He has been afraid of me every time I go see him. But today he let me hold him and play with him. His laugh was so beautiful! I’m so glad I did not give up on loving him.

I am excited for the weeks to come. I have 27 days left. I am going to live them to the fullest. Please be in prayer for the people of Preskul and that God would raise up a Godly man to lead the people of that city. Please pray for Eveline and her sons Guyado and Gabriel. Pray for deliverance. Also pray that God continues to strengthen my body and give me the energy and focus for the rest of my time here.