As we conclude our first week here in Haiti, we are realizing how genuinely blessed we are to be here in the presence of God…called by Him to do His works in this country. Most of us have been here before, so in a sense it was a bit of a homecoming for those who longed to reconnect with friends, pastors, and of course the children of Haiti. For those who have never been here before, the transition has been smooth and eye opening.
This past week has been a time of getting acquainted with one another, and learning to trust each other with our vulnerabilities. Prior to even arriving in Haiti, our team decided to be very intentional about building community with one another. We have made the choice to build strong and meaningful relationships with one another. This is not always easy, and sometimes requires us to work through conflict together. Despite this, we have made that decision, and good or bad we are choosing to stick to it. This has been a great time of growth for each of us. We are learning to break through some of the walls that we have put up, and learning how to invest into each other’s strengths.
In addition to the personal growth that is taking place, God has blessed me abundantly. I have been able to go and visit with pastors that I have worked with on previous trips. Specifically, I visited Pastor Amos and his family. This is the pastor who hosted me and my college team last year during our trip to Haiti. He and his family welcomed me into their home with open arms and called me by name. Not only did they remember me, but they were excited that I remembered them! After a brief visit, I took my staff to the orphanage close to Pastor Amos’s home where we had worked last year. The man who ran the orphanage, (Papa Gustav), passed away recently and I wanted to check in on his wife. She also remembered me and was so grateful to have us there. We spent a few minutes visiting with her and the children of the orphanage. I showed them pictures of our visit before and the kids got excited to find themselves in the photo. It was a time of joy and happiness, for them and for me! I missed these children, and was blessed to see how well they were doing.
A couple days ago, my team and I went on a prayer walk here in the community where we are living. We came across a family sitting outside and stopped to talk with them. After some conversation about who we were and why we were there, they told us about a woman who was inside and needing prayer. She had been lying in bed with severe pain in her breast for the past 2 months. She had been to the doctor with no solution. My team offered to pray for her and she agreed. After about an hour of praying for this woman, she began to tell us how she could feel a warm sensation where the pain was. As we prayed, she told us that the warm sensation was beginning to shift into a cool feeling. After a few moments the cooling sensation also left her breast and the pain was gone. She began to squeeze the spot where the pain was, poke at it, rub it… I imagine anything to try and stimulate the pain. However, she was unsuccessful at finding the pain. She began to cry and shared with us that this was the first time in 2 months that she had been pain free! We continued to pray and give thanks for this healing. After some small talk and getting to know her, we left with the understanding that we would be back in a few days to check on her. Yesterday, we went back to check on her and found her doing quite well. She was so excited about her healing that she had been going around the neighborhood sharing with people what had happened to her. A neighbor of hers asked us to come and pray for her as well! The excitement about what happened was spreading and it was great to see. The woman who had been healed invited us to church with her today so that she could testify to the healing that occurred and introduce us as her friends. It was a great moment.
God has been so good to us. We are excited about what He has in store for us in the remaining 9 weeks. We are also excited about the arrival of our first team next week! We continue to covet your prayers, and appreciate them greatly!
