Haiti

I just got back from two weeks working with orphans in Port-au-Prince, Haiti so I figured I had better give a summary of what God did there and what I heard and saw:

We live in a broken world.  Jesus is awake and live.  Our Lord God reigns.

Here is the website for Faith Mission International, the organization that I went with and my father works with, if you are interested in more information about their work or are interested in being apart of supporting this ministry through donations, prayer, or being a member of a team.

www.fmi-haiti.org

Blessings.



Wait...that is it?  You spent two weeks in one of the most impoverished locations in the world that is crippled by Satanic Voodoo and you write three short sentences?  It takes you at least four run-on sentences just to explain how you feel after a nap.  Where is the long, wordy text?  Where are the stories of how God broke you in every aspect of your faith and life?  How you experienced mornings where you could not talk to people for fear of blowing up at them from sheer annoyance and internal turmoil?  Not even a mention of the battle with the personal demons of pride and jealousy for a full week in relation to team members and leaders?  The absolute squaller in which a majority of the country lives that involves living in houses made of other people's trash and eating garbage?  To work with kids who were thrown in latrines by their parents due to the lack of interest or children that will probably never feel a loving embrace their entire lives?  You have to share your heart with these people, Stephen...the need to know what God is doing in you and in Haiti.  If the spiritual and emotional trials are too tough to share...go somewhere else.  They at least deserve a good story of a pant-less three year old boy in the tent city grabbing the newly unwrapped Nerf football and running screaming all the way throw the tents with the ball above his head as fifteen Americans watched.  Share the joy that comes from dance battles in which the winner is the first to remove the hat from the head of the other, playing basketball on a broken basketball hoop in 105 degree heat, cramming 47 people on a 24 capacity short bus for a two hour ride, or standing on the beach as orphans sing the praises of the ONLY Father that truly loved them.  What about the infants at the hospital that sat in stimulation-deprived comatose that later smiled and repeated words because someone took them time to care?  The botched projects that resulted in two hours of time with only the smile of an appreciative boy and a pile of splintered wood to show as a product?  The passion with which people in this country praise their God, no matter their economic or physical situation?  Tie in a important bible verse like Matthew 28:18-20, 'And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." ' where God showed you that He has all authority and He will never leave and we are to spread His love to ALL nations.  SHARE WITH THE PEOPLE THAT OUR GOD IS NOT DEAD AND THAT HE HAS ALREADY WON THE WAR AND NO MATTER THE CORRUPTION OR DEVASTATION OR THE PAIN OR THE FEAR OR THE DOUBT, HE WILL ALWAYS REIGN HERE, IN HAITI, IN AFRICA, IN EUROPE, ON EARTH, IN THE MILKY WAY, AND IN EVERY CREVICE OF THE UNIVERSE OUR GOD IS ABSOLUTELY SOVEREIGN AND THUS WE HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR.  Tell them that...tell them what your Heavenly Father has laid upon your heart.  Tell them of our inadequacy to handle life and all its issues.  Tell them that you have no idea what you are supposed to do with your life next year, next month, next week, or even tomorrow...but right now your God reigns and you know that Bible tells you that he has already won so we are to take joy in HIS victory.  Tell them.

Nah...I'm good...sometimes a few words say all that is needed.

We live in a broken world.  Jesus is awake and alive.  Our Lord God reigns.