Haiti Lesson #16....God Provides Exactly What We Need

And my God will supply all your needs according to 

His riches in glory in Christ Jesus Philippians 4:19

Each day, the students had recess and the 4th graders played kick ball. The class is divided up into two teams and the game lasts a week and then the teams are changed. Each day the teacher, Mme Ryan announces the line up, who is up to kick first and what the score is so far for the week. These are some seriously competitive 4th graders!!!! They had so much fun for 20 minutes. They knocked almonds out of the trees for snacks. Almond trees have a fruit that is edible with a hard pit on the inside that must be cracked open to get to the almond. The kids would eat the outside and never did get to the nut. The fruit reminded me of peaches with the big pit on the inside. I am told they are bitter. From what I have learned, these trees originated in north Africa and made their way to Haiti with the Europeans. I am not exactly sure why I remember these tidbits but.....it is completely possible that God sent me to Haiti to learn about almonds. Almonds are not the only thing the kids ate during recess....

Michel

Lourdes under the almond trees

Mme Ryan

Lyse

Berlenda

On my first trip to the playground for kick ball, one of the girls (Marsha) approached me and asked me if I wanted some leaves. I asked "what would I do with them?" She very seriously said... "Eat them?" I asked her "Are they good?" and she looked at me like I was a little crazy and said"No...but they have vitamins in them" Then she showed me how they eat them. I honestly thought she was trying to trick me into eating those leaves.

Marsha

I pondered that all day. I wonder what she thought when my first concern over this "food" she was offering me was good? We have so many choices here in the US and we have so much that our "food" concerns are usually about taste and not what we need. In Haiti, they focus on the important things from food like actual nutrition. They approach food from the realization of hunger.  

I have no idea what kind of tree those leaves were from. I do not know if they had vitamins in them or not. I did try some and I can clearly state that they tasted terrible but God was providing His people with what they needed and they were not complaining about the taste. We are not good at noticing the very basics that God provides for us every single day. We would learn gratitude if we had to go without. The Haitian people are grateful for food because they truly have gone without.

Haiti Lesson #4...Big Adventures Can Come in Small Packages

Our ride to Port de Paix...a 10 seat Cessna Single Engine Piston. This tiny package carried all of our crates, luggage and team members across the island from Port au Prince. If you are doing the math, you can see that it did take a couple of trips but one by one....we all made it.

 

This adventure brought back childhood memories of trips in the summer with my father (who recently passed away) and on one hand it was a blessing to think back on those memories.  On the other hand I knew that there would be a moment on humility required. In order for this tiny plane to stay in the air....everything that went on the plane had to weighed. Each had to get on the scale and be weighed in a room full of people. Although it was embarrassing and tough for me.....there was no one in that room that cared about it but me. I had feared this moment since the beginning of our planning stages and it was because I judged the people on my team and assumed they would judge me. It was another gift I had received from Satan. The team I was traveling with had hearts for serving and could have cared less what that scale said. I was humbled at that moment and realized that I am not SO important that these amazing people where in Haiti just to judge my weight issues. 

Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honor Proverbs 29:23

Courtney, Shawn and Gene

Rob, Lisa and Melissa

Rob, Melissa, Laura and Courtney

Haiti Lesson #3...The world truly is a small place...

He says:

“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant

to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept.

I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,

that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” Isaiah 49:6

I am not a gambler so I do not know what the odds are but.... during this journey to Haiti, our team encountered a couple of people that really made the world feel like a very small place. As we sat at the Miami airport waiting for our flight to Port au Prince on Saturday EARLY morning, we met several other people that were also on mission trips to Haiti. You may think that is not really an unlikely encounter since I would guess a high percentage of people visiting Haiti are on a mission trip of some type. Does the world become smaller when a couple on one of those other mission teams lives in Colorado and believes they recognize one of our team members? Maybe. But during that conversation of "Where do we know each other from?" the world gets VERY small when we discover that this couple that lives in Colorado was married 20 years ago AND one of our pastors, Darren, sang at their wedding!!!

Hours later in our journey, we will meet the pilot, John Munsell, that will take us to the final destination on our trip, Port de Paix. Turns out...John is also from Illinois...Naperville to be exact. Of all of the places for a pilot in Haiti to be from....a town just a few miles down the road from us. I did a little research on MAF Airlines and it turns out that John and his family have been serving the Haitian people for 15 years. Click here to read the Munsell's bio and their mission.

I gather from this that as a family, the body of Christ feels like a small world. We are all connected through His sacrifice for us. I do not believe in coincidences. I believe God places people in our path that we need and sometimes we do not know WHY we need them but eventually God will reveal that plan.

Haiti Lesson #15.... We Can Change the World

  

We are each called to DO SOMETHING to make the world a better place. Sonlight Ministries exists to reach and train Haitian people to reach and train others for the kingdom of God by effectively communicating the gospel through lifestyle and words. Joe and I have supported that mission for 5 years by sponsoring a student at Sonlight. Her name is Belenda Joseph. As the time got closer to leaving for this trip, the guilt of mindlessly sending that check...actually automatic withdrawal.... started to come over me. I had not done anything to get to know this person. I had not written, sent gifts, inquired about the needs of her or her family or even included them in my prayers, suddenly I realized that just giving a financial amount is not the answer. I was letting her down by not giving of myself at all. 

She is in 4th grade this year and the highlight of my journey to Haiti was the chance to finally meet her. I spent most of the school time with her class. She is an amazing young girl that is full of kindness and joy. We talked about our families. She told me about her brothers and her parents. I also discovered that 4th grade girls are universal. She had a best friend that she shared everything with....Marsha. 

During our week at Sonlight, members of  our team stepped into the gap and committed to sponsoring 4 students, 1 college student and a missionary family. These relationships will last a lifetime. I truly look forward to seeing how Berlenda will grown and help to lead her country toward God someday. I miss her....my heart is in and I am no longer sponsoring Berlenda but supporting my friend!

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:40

I invite you to consider how you can DO SOMETHING ..... Serve someone, encourage someone or sponsor someone! http://sonlightministries.org/ministries/student-sponsorship.html