Haiti Part Twa - The Marriage Proposal

"Open my eyes to see what You see. 

Use my words to speak what You want to say." 

I had no idea when I prayed that prayer on that boat, in my quiet space surrounded by other people, that the Lord would make this the prayer of my life. Since I've been home, I consistently pray this prayer and the Lord consistently uses it for His glory. 

But...it happened in Haiti first. 

This is a picture of cheesy me with Rose Marthe and her "husband", Lahens. I will call him husband because here, in America, they would be considered common-law spouses. They have lived together for about 13 years and I believe have 3 children together. They never married but a few years ago gave their hearts to Jesus and became Christian. 

Since then, they have been very convicted to do as the Bible says and get married. 

But, there are a few obstacles.....

The first day we were in the village, Rose Marthe was one of 3 ladies that invited us into their homes. Very neat, with a twin bed, dining table with 4 chairs, a couple shelf units and an old singer foot-pedaled sewing machine! To say it was a tight fit would be an understatement.  Then add about 10 of us to the mix and we were very cozy. She invited some of us to sit at the table, so we did, and she began sharing her story. You could see the agony and guilt on her face from not being married. She explained that she and her husband lost their birth certificates in the flood of 2016 that wiped away most of the village. Without the birth certificates, they could not get the legal documents to marry. That was when I heard it again "Use my words to speak what you want to say." Really Lord? Here, in a room of strangers? And the answer to that is YES! So, through the interpreter, I encouraged her. I let her know that God could see her heart and knew she wanted to do the right thing. But, He also knew the struggle. Because she was striving to do the right thing, one day God would bless that. 

After that, we got up and left. As I was walking back to our workstation, it hit me. What in the world?? I didn't even offer to pray for her! What is wrong with me?? It bothered me all day long. So, the next day, I took the interpreter back with me to pray for her. I believe it was all God's plan because that afternoon, her husband was home as well. After praying for them, Lahens said he would like for Evens, the interpreter, and me to stand with them at their wedding. Oh, how that blessed my heart but blew me away at the same time. I eventually convinced him that Rose Marthe had many close sisters in the village that I'm sure she would rather have stand with her. She agreed!

So, if you would, please pray with me that they find a way to get these documents. It's a 3-hour walk to the town where they get them. Pray God show them a way there. Pray they get their documents and can do the right thing. Pray immense blessings upon their wedding, their home, and their family.

I also challenge you. Pray for God to open your eyes to see and give you words to speak right where you live and work every day. I can testify, He will do it!!

Loveson update: The mission has the money, so now we are waiting for his uniform and then he will go to school!!! Keep watching for picture updates!! And keep praying this all go quickly...

Haiti Part De - Open My Eyes to See

Remember my prayer from Part 1? "I want to see what the Lord wants me to see and say what the Lord wants me to say"? He wasted no time answering this prayer...

To call the 8 1/2 mile ride to the village a bumpy one would be an understatement. Most of the team rode up in a dump truck...yes, a dump truck!!

Brave Dump Truck Riders

But, if anyone had any back, neck or knee issues they could ride up with Pastor Etienne in his Land Cruiser. Well, I mean, I do have a bulging disc in my neck, so yeah, this is where I pulled the old lady card!! What a blessing that turned into. To spend those moments with Pastor was one of the highlights of my trip. Such a powerful man of God that sacrificed so much for the love of his people. 

                                                         

Above left is the "Blessed and Highly Favored" crew (that's what I named our vehicle, I mean, come on....isn't it obvious?) with Pastor Etienne. Above right is inside "Blessed and Highly Favored" with Quito, one of the workers.
Since we rode in the Land Cruiser, it only took us an hour to travel the 8 miles vs the hour twenty it took the truck. So, we got to the village first. While we were waiting on the others, there was a little boy standing there and our eyes locked. The Lord whispered to me "See what I want you to see". I waved and smiled, he waved and smiled, the truck arrived and we began prepping for the work to be done.

My boy - Loveson

I took a little break to get some water and I noticed he was sitting in the shade behind the house, so I went to him and gave him a fist bump and he immediately taught me his "special" fist bump. We then began playing some hand games and just laughing. It was odd though, he was the only school age child around, all the others were in school. I went and got the interpreter so I could find out more about him. I asked him why he wasn't in school and he said it was because he didn't have a uniform. He told me his mom had died and his dad had basically left him. His aunt was taking care of him. So I told him that I was going to do some checking and find out what we needed to do to get him a uniform so he could go to school. He immediately jumped up from the seat and wrapped his arms around my waist. Yup.....it was all over for me...my heart expansion took its first leap!

So I checked with the Mission of Hope leaders, talked with Pastor and the leader of Living Water Ministries until I discovered what needed to happen to get Loveson into school. For $25 a month, he would get a uniform, his books and tuition to get back into school. He had already missed almost 2 years!! It broke my heart, but at the same time blessed my soul that the Lord chose me to restore this boys life. He is 10, about the same age as Conner. He has the sweetest spirit and every day he wanted to be a part of some of the construction going on.  He was very intuitive and you could see him soaking up everything he was being taught. I believe that one day, this boy will become a man of God. The Lord impressed upon me that he would either be a pastor or be a spiritual leader in his village. Either way, the Lord has big plans for this youngster and as I left the village Monday, day 1, I was content that if nothing else happened throughout the week, my purpose on this trip could be complete. 

But, with 3 more days of ministry, that certainly wasn't going to happen! Until tomorrow......

Haiti Adventures - Part Youn

Haiti from the air

April 15, 2018 - The first day of a bold move in obedience to the Lord's calling. How do I put this in words? I can explain what we did, but what matters are the emotions, all the feels, why it mattered.

Once we got to the boat and got settled in, TJ, the construction lead from Mission of Hope gave us a challenge. He asked us to think about "why am I here?" So, Sunday night I wrote - "I want to say why I think I'm here on day 1, then see how different it may be, come day 5."

Why am I here? (before we meet any Haitians) - I am here to learn boldness. I want to be bold with the people, not hold back because I'm uncomfortable. I want to see what the Lord wants me to see and be able to speak what the Lord wants me to speak. I want to learn to love deeper.

But, let me start with a few logistics of the week. After flying into Port Au Prince, we took about an hour bus ride (school bus) to where the boat was docked. We would be going into a remote area in the NW part of Haiti. The infrastructure to that part of the county is basically non-existent, so it's much easier to go by boat. So we loaded up on the True North, got settled in and then sailed about 6 hours through the night to our destination - Baie-de-Henne. 

                                           

Yep, we slept 4 ladies in a room smaller than my closet!! We laughed every night until we fell asleep and fairly certain irritated the poor ladies in the room attached to us! It took less than 24 hours for a bond to form that I know will last the rest of our lives.





The next morning I sat on the upper deck of the boat and prayed that prayer "Lord give me eyes to see what you want me to see and help me speak the words you need me to speak." Little did I know that prayer was about to change some lives forever, mine included.... until tomorrow.... bon babay