31 Days Reflecting on our lives in Haiti, Day 4
Day 4
If the phone rang and your best friend said "Hello..", would you know it was them?
Not many of us would struggle to know who it was. I think we'd know their voice pretty well...even though some of you don't know what it's like to not have caller ID on your cell phone.
But think about how close you are to someone that you can pin point that voice in a huge crowd.
Calling your name.
Calling your name.
A familiar whistle.
Could you pick out their laugh in a video full of noise?
Not very long into the roller coaster of transitioning to Haiti, I felt like I'd lost the sweet voice of my Father. When I sat down to begin writing this blog I spent half a day looking for my journals from Haiti. For me, journaling is something I LOVE! I literally have piles of journals of prayers and messages stored in boxes. And I was devastated when I found that for the first 5 months...nothing.
I have my notes from language....but not one prayer.
I did ministry work every night. Met with women on the team. Did worship nights at our home.
I spent time in the Word in the morning, but my pen didn't write.
I don't remember feeling upset with Him. Not once.
I felt like I was tumbling down stairs that never ended and I just couldn't stand up. But I wasn't just standing up alone. I was trying to stand up with my amazing husband who was struggling and my beautiful munchkins. God had blessed me with a ridiculously amazing discipleship school that allowed me to literally sit at His feet daily for a year. The outpouring from that season for sure left me hungry for that feast daily. And yet I found myself in Haiti not feasting. I missed His direction and His wonder.
Every week our team had set a goal to do outreach in different zones of our town. The purpose was to minister everywhere and seek people of peace to eventually invite to consider going to the discipleship school we would launch. I had gone almost every week and one week we went to an area of town call St. Helen. Not a safe place. Probably one of the slums of Jeremie.
When we met as a team at a school yard where we could close the gate to on-lookers and pray.(Being white/foreign draws a crowd sometimes).
We circled up and I began to listen. Not just to those praying. But to open my minds eye and listen for Him. Instantly I saw someone. A local man that would come to us and say he had a vision of us.
The prayer ended...and I paused.
Then I said, "I think I need to share something..." I shared with the team and we excitedly opened the gate. Split into two groups and were off.
In about 15 steps a young Haitian man comes running across the street. He was speaking to Mike on our team and we weren't fluent yet, so we didn't know all he was saying. Lindsay, who'd lived in Haiti for 4 years already translated for us. He said...
He had a dream about coming to this building and finding a group of white people.
What?
We all kind of giggled. A giggle like the ones your kids do when they knew you'd give them an extra bite of ice cream.
He continued to explain that he had left his family and didn't know God. He had gotten into a really dark place. And last night he found himself sleeping on the bench in a church. At that church he dreamt of us being here and us helping him.
We asked him if we could pray over him and again...I saw something. I saw a Haitian woman standing in a doorway of a reddish building. She was sadly looking out, reaching for someone. Outside of the door were hooks for slaughter.
I asked him about his mother and he explained that she was a believer in Jesus Christ and that she had been praying for him over and over. He had chosen not to walk with the Lord and she feared he would die and suffer. The visions made complete sense.
Mike lead this man through the gospel of Jesus Christ and he excitedly prayed with us and agreed to take the 40 minute walk down the hill to the ocean....
All because I finally slowed the doubts in my mind down. I stopped believing the discouraging words that came at me. I chose to engage Him in that moment, He allowed me to see how much He wants to speak to us. He is miraculous...all the time. His sweet voice has the most important words waiting to speak to us. This day refreshed my soul. Not only did this young man find his Savior Jesus Christ, but his young cousin was watching...and he wanted Jesus to lead his life too...
And I listened. I knew that Voice. I was so refreshed. All I longed for was for Him to become greater in me and me to become less.
"So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image."- 2 Corinthians 3:18
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