After a very long day of travel, we finally made it to the Mole! We landed in Port au Prince around 4 pm, and as we were leaving, security decided they needed to search FOUR of our checked bags, which was all VBS supplies. So we loaded everything on the bus and headed out.
After about three and a half hours of nice, paved roads we hit the unpaved, washed out dirt. Thinking it would be a bearable 5 hour finish, our dreams were shattered as we spent nine more hours bouncing around on already sore bottoms
We pulled into the mission around 5 am, and quickly went for shower or bed. We were back up for breakfast at 9:30 am. We sorted through our bags with supplies afterwards, brought them to the clinic and went to play with the orphans until lunch.
After our spaghetti and hotdog meal, we took a tour of the town and finished at the beach. When we came back up for dinner, Jody did our devotional/informational session to begin the week, and then we watched a movie in the cafeteria with the orphans.
The people of Haiti primarily practice voodoo. Every year the president dedicates the country to Satan. Their ways and their thinking are skewed, but that is why we are here. We are here to show them the power of Lord and His goodness.
Where we go, the Lord goes before us and no man can touch us. In the battle between good versus evil, we have to show them how good wins. A lot of times Haitians will cry out to their god and our God will respond. Us being here is one of the best ways for us to show them who has already won the battle.
Which brings me to a verse I want to share as we begin the best but most exhausting week of our lives: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurable more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
That is our prayer for this week. “Now to him who is able…” He is the Lord our God! Of course he is able. “…to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine…” Being a second-timer down here, I came to Haiti yet again with no expectations for the trip other than for God to work and move in our lives and the people we touch.
There are times when we may doubt, or times when we may not be able to speak, or times when we may not know what to do, but the Lord will squash our doubts and give us the words and provide for us in ways that we never know we’d need. “…according to his power that is at work within us…”
Being Christians and created in His image, we have the same power in us that Jesus and his disciples have. I mean, we are still his disciples, too, right?
And we should never be content in where we are at with our relationship with Christ. We should always want and strive to know the Lord more as his power ever changes us. “…to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
This ending phrase is fairly self-explanatory, but we are not here for us. We are here for the people of Haiti in God’s name. Not for our own bragging rights, but so we can return and tell everyone in the states what awesome things the Lord has done during this week. Not me, but Him.
Friends and family, I ask you to pray for the country and us this week. It is hot and uncomfortable down here, and there are only 8 out of our 30 team members that have been here before. So pray for joy in the uncomfortable-ness. Pray for boldness as we witness to the adults and children through the clinic and multiple VBS’s. Pray for rest so that we will not grow weary in doing what the Lord has called us to.
Pray for the people we encounter, that they will have open hearts and receptive ears to listen to the Good News. Pray that even if salvation does not come to any of them, we have at least planted a seed that the mission can continue watering.
Now, let us become what we behold – the power and the love of our gracious Father.
~Lindsay Schaum
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