1) I think anyone that has been to a third-world country will tell you it is hard to describe what you saw.
2) If you've known me longer than, oh, 30 minutes, you know I'm a planner. I like EVERYTHING to go according to plan.
I think reason number (2) is what really helped to flip my heart all around and leave me speechless!!
You see, we planned for this trip. We planned for almost a year. This was a big deal. And in the past year, I think I took the planning a bit overboard. I didn't just plan what to pack. I did what I always seem to do... I started planning the things that God was in control of.
So, this was my plan:
I would go to Haiti. I would see devastation everywhere. I would see broken, lost, sad, hopeless people. I would do work projects that would help improve the quality of life in Haiti. I would love on the Haitians and I would build relationships with them and maybe I would even be able to break down language barriers to tell them about Jesus. And after my week of serving was done, I would come home feeling fulfilled and knowing that I served the people of Haiti to the best of my ability.
Wanna know what actually happened? I couldn't really do any of the work projects. It was hot, the work was very physical, and my body and my baby just weren't handling it well. And anytime I did try to do some work, one of those wonderful kids that went on this trip with me took away my job and did it themselves!! (and people think all kids nowadays are lazy....) So I spent the working hours playing with kids. We played duck, duck, goose and ring around the rosy. We blew bubbles. We played frisbee. We colored. We sang songs. We did the things kids like to do (well, kids that don't have tv's and ipods and gameboys...) And sometimes we just hugged each other.
I saw devastation. Lots of it. There was trash everywhere. There were starving animals everywhere. Water and electricity were luxuries. People live in tents and concrete shacks.
But this is what I noticed about the people that lived in those homes. They were happy. They were smiling. They were full of love. And I didn't get the impression that they felt like they were missing out on something. They weren't hopelessly longing for something they couldn't have. They were living content with what they had and they were grateful for what was given to them.
And the crazy thing is, it was that happiness that took me to my knees with tears in my eyes (Not just wet eyes, folks. We are talking 'ugly face cry'!) On our second full day in Haiti, we went to a village in the morning just to visit with the people and love on the kiddos. We took along crafts and coloring pages and bracelets. We played and talked and took pictures (these people LOVED 'photo's'). Before we left, we had the kids line up so we could give them each a bracelet. This is about half of the line....
And this is when I lost it. Here I am, trying to 'save the world' but I'm only one person. I was trying to figure out what I could/can do to really make a difference in these lives. I wanted to know how I was supposed to find a way to build a relationship with even just one of these beautiful people. But they didn't know that's what I wanted to do... and they didn't care! They cared that we took the time to visit. They cared that we showed them a little bit of love. And they were overjoyed that we brought them these
Do we need to do something tangible to help these people? Absolutely!! They are a hard-working people that just happened to be born into poverty... just like we just happened to be born into wealth (yep, face it, you are wealthy....) They need us to help them get a start... to find a way out of the hopeless situations they are living in. But before we can do any of that, they need someone to care about them.
Matthew 22:36-10 says:
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Love God, Love Others. It's as simple as that. And if we follow the commandment to love others, I believe our heart will lead us to do more.
That was a hard lesson for me to learn that day. We live in a world that expects us to constantly be doing, doing, doing. But sometimes our Lord just calls us to love.
I had lots of plans for my trip to Haiti. They all fell through. I left Haiti feeling like I hadn't done enough. In fact, part of me felt like I hadn't done anything at all.
But God had one plan for me: Love them. And he made sure I had plenty of time to do that.
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