Can I have a refill?: Day 4-Village Day

Journal:
We set out this morning for village day. Goal: To share the Gospel and the Love of Christ with others. The first village we went to we split up and walked throughout with our interpreters. Michelot took us to a home of a women who has 15 children. 5 living and 10 deceased. She told us that the witch doctors had eaten 5 of her children. WHAT? After we left we all asked what in the world she meant. The interpreter explained that she meant that The Witch Doctors sucked out their souls. The village that we were traveling through had many homes that were believers in voodoo. Although the women we talked to said she was a Christian, she also turned to voodoo in desperation when her children were very ill. She said there were no fathers present helping her with her children. She was sad. She told us she had no money or food. We prayed with her.

We then walked up a big hill to a private orphanage that was owned by a US church. It was very impressive. It was very "Americanized". Big playground, clean, state of the art kitchen and GREAT BATHROOMS!!!!! I didn't really have to go to the bathroom....but I wasn't letting this opportunity pass me by :)

We were quickly told by the interpreter that we need to get to the bus to leave the village ASAP. Confused...we followed directions. After we were all on the bus and pulling out of town our intern, Tiffany, told us that there has been some unrest in the area and road blocks and demonstrations are being set up. The unrest is due to the rationing of power that was being supplied to the villages by a cement company. Villages have not been receiving the power that they were promised and people were speaking out. The main highway going from that village to the MOH campus was going to be shut down soon by demonstrators and we needed to get on the other side of the demonstration in order to make sure we can return to MOH.

At that point we moved to a new village.

We were now next to fields where a soccer camp put on by a NFL player, who was also staying at MOH. That camp was a happening place to be. I can't remember the exact numbers but the first day they had about 100 show up...By day 3 it was 300...and then they ended up the week with somewhere like 500 kids. The man who was organizing it all was a fish out of water...but he gave ALL THE GLORY to God for running that camp. He said it was better than he could have dreamed.

So, we walked around the new village. (I wish I would have written down the names of the villages. I'm so bad with names!) We stopped to talk to a man. He invited us in. He was very serious and cautious when we got there. (The most cautious of any Haitian I had met so far.) After being with him for just a short time, he started to smile and loosen up. We met his wife and his 2 children. He told us he was employed at a factory. (This was the first employed Haitian I had met!) They went to church up the road. He told us that the Lord was the foundation of his family. He asked us if we would tell him a bible story.

PANIC.....my brain froze. What do I know....what do I know?? Daniel, the ark, Moses, Jesus, Jonah....oh no....I have no clue what to tell this man....I think I know bible stories...but well enough to tell them?

Luckily, our intern was "on it" and she said something about good soil. A light bulb went off in my head. YES....good soil! The seed dropped...

She then told him the parable of the sower. (Mark 4)

She told the man that his children are being raised on good soil. She said she will pray that they will grow closer to Christ and become leaders in Haiti. He nodded. That is this prayer too!

It was a very cool moment!

Then another interruption.....the interpreter's phone rang again. Michelot told us we need to get back to the bus NOW. Road blocks were moving closer to MOH campus and they needed to get us back. As we drove closer it was evident that getting back on to campus was going to be tricky. The entrance to the campus was blocked. (It was not an attack against MOH...but MOH is located in a prime area for demonstrations.) The bus took us down a back trail. The bus driver was determined to get us back on campus safe. He and other MOH workers took a part of the chain length fence down to get us in. I was never scared!

After we were back on property we saw a lot of smoke (a bus was set on fire) and heard many gunshots. I headed back to our room and was pleased that they turned on the power. (Usually there is only power from around 7:00p.m.-6:30a.m.) I turned the fan my way, wrote the first part of my journal entry, read my bible, and took a little nap. You would think with everything going on outside the gates that I would have been a little messed up. I wasn't. I was right where God wanted me to be. I pray for this country!
Lord, Help me to be FOREVER ruined for the ordinary! nic

After thoughts:
Last week (The week of July 2nd) a strong storm blew through. I was in bed reading a book. I had wanted to go to bed hours earlier but my book sucked me in. It was almost midnight and the power went off. One fire alarm started beeping...then they all started beeping. (At least one did not have battery back-up which then lead to all alarms setting off a warning beep.) Beeping...everywhere. Ben and I were both frustrated. Then Baby girl woke up. She was screaming. We found candles and a flash light. (I am kicking myself for not getting some sleep hours earlier.) As I walk around with a disturbed 1 year old I start to get really, really frustrated. WHEN IS THE POWER GOING TO COME BACK ON? It was getting stuffy, I was uncomfortable, tired, and annoyed. 45 min. later it came back on. I gave baby a little milk and then put her to bed. I crawled into my bed. I couldn't get the Haitian demonstration out of my mind.

I was without power for 45 min. I expect power 24 hours a day. I get annoyed when I am inconvenienced by a storm. The Haitians are not promised power 24 hours a day. They are only promised power for a few hours. Then they don't even get that. They certainly don't ask much from their government (not near as much as Americans).....they just want what has been promised to them. The road block was their way of saying....HEY, PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO US. WE FEEL FORGOTTEN! Can you blame them?

I have thought a lot about this day. I thought about the gunshots, fire, and screams. It's just not what I'm used to. But God hears it all of the time. It's happening all around this world everyday. This is not my reality...but this is many, many people's reality. I felt safe when I got back on the MOH campus.
One of the other adults was having a really hard time. She was not having a hard time dealing with the "scary", she was having a hard time dealing with the fact that we were brought back to safety. She told me, "I don't want to be a safe Christian!" "God does not call us to be safe!" I knew what she meant although I was glad we were all tucked back on the MOH campus. But, my mind has been wrapped around the topic of "safety" since.

I have had several conversations with a girlfriend of mine. She doesn't ever pray for safely as in physical safety. She prays for safety as in eternal safety. She prays that her children will be drawn towards Jesus and be spiritually safe. Jesus LOVED his disciples. They were not safe Christians and most of them died in the name of Jesus.

I guess all I am saying is....I fully trust in the Lord's plan for me. I do not know what that plan is. I'm choosing Him and that may not always put me in a "safe" place.

I can predict it now....there are some of you rolling your eyes and thinking I'm nuts.
I think I am almost okay with that.

Day 4 was a crazy day. It started crazy and it ended with stomach cramping and several trips to the bathroom. That's right.... Haitian Sensation has begun :)

I'm still thinking about Day 4. I'm thankful for Day 4!

Soccer camp that was going on. Jay Feely (kicker for the Arizona Cardinals) ran this camp all week.