“I may be weak but your spirit’s strong in me, my flesh may fail, but my God you Never will…… I may be weak…but your Spirit’s strong in me…my flesh may fail…..but my God you NEVER will….all I am I surrender….give me faith to trust what you say, that your good and your love is great, I broken inside I give you my life… “- Give me faith- Elevation Worship
These lyrics I sang over as my plea & reminder from God that He will never leave me…. I was weak; I was tired, and faced with a very challenging first semester of Physician Assistant School. I have had to rely fully on my God daily to give me the understanding, power and endurance to learn and successfully complete each day. The last week of finals looked like a gigantic mountain, too difficult to climb. I was overwhelmed at the thought of how I could get through and pass so many exams in such a short amount of time…. knowing there was an enormous about of information needed to be learned. But God carried me through the long nights, and many hours of non-stop studying. Through it all… my fears, my disappointments, and times of doubting…… my motivation for going to Haiti pulled me through. God revealed Himself that week to me, showing me He would give me just wanted I needed each day. I had to learn to trust, and not give up. God passed me through all my classes; He is the one to be glorified for this past semester, for I am nothing without Him.
I could not believe it when I finally finished the last final (our time on the computer even malfunctioned, ending it earlier than expected). I had been nervous about the short time between finishing finals on Thursday to when I would leave that Sunday for Haiti, but God knew best, and gave me the exact time I needed to be fully prepared. This would be my fourth week to Haiti and third trip. It did not take me long to gather the few things I needed. My mother and friend who teach kindergarten, had their classes collect the medications and items the clinics needed for me to take to Haiti. This was a true blessing because I did not have the time on my own to collect enough medications. The children learned about the country of Haiti, and how there are other children their age that are in great need. I was so proud of the children, and my mother for teaching them this life lesson of giving to the needy. Some of the children brought their own toys; their parents helped them buy Tums, children’s vitamins, tooth brushes, toothpaste, antifungal crèmes, eye drops, and more!! One child told my mom one day at school during lunch, that he wanted the piece of candy that was packed in his lunch, but he had learned that week he did not need the candy J . Though a seemingly simple idea, he had discovered a powerful concept, that I pray many children, and people of all ages will come to realize. That there is so very much in this world of material things that we do NOT need, yet people want and buy to fill voids, fill greed, and build status. Yet if we just open our eyes to see how much of the world lives in poverty, they go about each day of their lives just to survive. Many even at such young ages, must grow up fast learning to take care of themselves, their siblings, and be able to provide and find food and a place to sleep each day. The things of this world we know are only temporary, they can come and go in an instant, but it is only Christ’s love that remains, and will be true joy. There is so much more to this life…there is a God, Jesus Christ who died for us and came to save us, to give us the opportunity to accept Him, so we can have eternal life and live with Him in heaven. He gives us HOPE, life, and being… He breathes life into me, and you, and I have been truly blessed to serve the people of Haiti. Showing them they are loved, they are not forgotten, through our coming, through life saving medications, through the wisdom of the doctors, nurses, and lay people who help wherever needed.
Life is such a gift and going to Haiti always brings such joy, meaning, and purpose in my life. Though I face life and death so much more closely in Haiti, God reveals Himself in such Mighty ways!! This trip began early Sunday, December 11th with a 5:50am flight from Charlotte. I met for the first time one team member, Zachary Lynch, a guy close to my age who works at Ridgecrest Conference Center at the front desk. It was his third time going to Haiti as well. Both of us had had little sleep but were excited to get on the flight to Miami. When we made it to Miami, it was such a blessed promise to see a huge bright rainbow painted in the sky! I could not remember the last time I had seen a rainbow, what a beautiful reminder that God keeps his promises, and will be with us during this trip. We met up in the airport with the rest of our team, three ladies who are widows, Mrs. Clara, Mrs. Doris, and Mrs. Joy. It was such a testimony for these retired ladies in their late 50’s, 60’s, & 70’s come to serve in Haiti. Especially Mrs. Doris, who was handicapped due to having a brain tumor removed. She walks with a cane, and has to have to be careful getting around because he balance is not always sound.
It takes about 3.5 hours to get to Haiti, and when we arrived at the Haiti airport, it seemed busier than I had remembered it. However, it was nice that going through customs we got to follow Mrs. Doris through a faster line since she used a wheelchair. It took us a lot longer to find and gather our suitcases in all the crowd and piles of suitcases. Once we all finally found our luggage, we began the trek outside through the crowd of Haitian men in red shirts, all trying to desperately carry your luggage and assist you for money. I have learned to just carry my own, and keep walking, but the ladies got stopped. Eventually we got through and made the walk to our van. I was excited to see Bobby, and Jude pick us up, as well as Bobby pays one Haitian man use is deaf to help us with our luggage. He is great to ward off the other men trying to assist, and gets us to the van, and helps load our stuff. Once in the van the ladies looked exhausted, and hot, but I was so excited!!! YAY I had made it!! The warm sunshine felt so great, I felt like I was returning back to my second home J. Everything looked the same, as we dodged the pot holes, we drove by the rows of tent homes, and people as they are walking miles to sell or buy food, kids carrying water, many packed on the taptaps….
It was wonderful to arrive back to the compound, and see Wanda greet us, as she had been cooking lunch. We picked a bunk bed, and got unpacked. I could not wait for the first day, to get to see the Haitian workers, the doctors, and the patients, hoping to see familiar faces again!! I was happy to see "Ta" first; she was studying for she is now in nursing school, and her sister "To" is in medical school. I am so proud of them! I was so happy that night to see the three doctors again!! Love them so much!! We also had our first pill packing party that night packing all the medications we had brought. They were totally out of the children’s vitamins and tums, and other meds in clinic, so it was great to have those for the first couple of days of clinics.
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