First Stop: Go Ethiopia!

 

Hello dear friends and family!

           Well, it’s the beginning of the semester and life seems to be moving at full speed. I’ve been back in the United States for almost a month now and still haven’t processed everything that happened these past few months. God used this summer to continue to open my eyes and heart to the reasons behind why we are called to do missions. And the more He continued to stir something inside of me, the more I realized that I was right where I was meant to be…right there in Ethiopia, Africa and right there in Haiti, sharing the love of God and the love for God with my unreached brothers and sisters in Christ.

            My trip to Ethiopia was unlike anything I had ever experienced. It took even a few days for it to sink in that I was, in fact, in AFRICA. After a day and a half of travel, our first two days being at Project Mercy (which is the compound where we stayed) was spent becoming familiar with the area and starting to build relationships with the orphans that lived there. In all honesty, the week started off a bit slow. Being that this was our first time working with Project Mercy we were unaware of what God had in store for us. Compared to the United States and even my previous time spent in Haiti, it was a much laid back atmosphere and it was a vast adjustment for all of us. We all remained patient and trusted that God would provide opportunities throughout the week for us to fully serve Him, connect with the Ethiopians, and find peace in His presence.

On Sunday we attended the “worship service” (which it is referred to as such because the majority of the population is Muslim). While we were there we were humbled when we observed their immense passion to worship God. That same day we were given the opportunity to hike/climb up a mountain to see a waterfall. It was the most vigorous, dangerous, exhilarating, and divine experience of my life thus far! Not only did we learn to trust the members of our team, but we learned how to put all of our trust into God. That night, after such an emotionally and physically draining day, our team had a night of reflection and prayer that left tears in each of our eyes. God used that experience on the mountain to bring us together in order to better serve Him through out the week.

The next couple of days the team worked on random projects around the compound which included painting the kid’s dining hall and cleaning, scrubbing, sanding, painting, and assembling their benches they sat on. What I found so amazing was that these orphans continued to offer a hand with whatever we did. They helped us paint the dining hall in the beginning (which ended up being way too messy!) and helped us clean and sand the benches. They enjoyed working with us because it gave them the opportunity to spend time with us, and we also loved it because it gave us the opportunity to love all over them.

One of the mornings I had an opportunity to walk up to their hospital to observe and learn more about the healthcare and education in Ethiopia. I was impressed with their facilities and was so privileged to have been able to see nurses working in a third world country. The rest of our week was spent doing Vacation Bible School with the orphans and other children in the community. We had a bible story, games/relays, crafts, and music station for them to be able to interact, worship, and learn more about God. It was the FIRST time these children had ever done anything like VBS. That simple fact right there is what makes me believe there is much of God’s work to be done all around the world.

            On Friday, we had the opportunity to go to Butajira (the nearest town) to attend market day, walk through the streets, and look at their shops. Our last day in Ethiopia was spent in the capital, Addis Ababa, to absorb a little bit of the culture. We drove through the city taking in our surroundings, had our last lunch in Africa, and bartered on the streets. We were also able to shower and change at the missionaries house before venturing on our long journey back to the States. 35 hours later we were back home in Fort Wayne. I was relatively jetlagged but knew it was time for me to start preparing for Haiti.

            Some of you know that I was able to share my Africa experience with Brad and Vanessa Johnson (our partner missionaries in Haiti). I absolutely adored the chance to get to know them and start a long-lasting friendship with them. I was able to get the “behind the scenes” information of what it takes to run Mission of Hope in Haiti. I was able to ask endless questions and grasp the vision they have for glorifying God in Haiti. Spending time with them and learning about their passion for Haiti prepared me for my upcoming trip…

 

The next post is a continuation of my trip to Haiti–>

 

 

           

Second Stop: Go Haiti!

We had many obstacles and roadblocks during our journey down to Haiti. We ended up staying the night in Miami and didn’t make it down to Haiti until Sunday afternoon. We unfortunately missed the worship service Sunday morning which I was bummed about; however, I was completely content with being back in Haiti. Through all the commotion at the airport and the overwhelming, eye-opening bus ride to the mission, I had this great sense of peace being there. In a way it felt like home.

As I shared with some of you, I had been somewhat skeptical that this trip could measure up to my first international mission trip to Haiti. That week in February marked the beginning of a new chapter in my life and it was hard to believe that this trip (and even the trip to Africa) could change me even more. Well, God obviously had greater ideas in mind because this trip rocked my world yet again. This trip was a lot different than my first trip. It was unbelievable how much had changed at the clinic (at mission of hope) since I was there in February. They are officially up and running the clinic with their own Haitian staff, which made it somewhat challenging for those veterans who had been used to ”the way things were” in the past. It took some mighty prayer and patience and it was a slow start but everyone adjusted and worked together. The first time I went to Haiti back in February we saw close to 1500 patients and this time we only saw roughly 300. It was quite the difference! But in the end it allowed us to spend time with the staff and translators, have the opportunity to play with the orphans, and help on miscellaneous projects around the mission in the afternoons. Our construction crew worked on building orphan houses as a part of The Chapel’s fundraising for Habitat for Humanity. (For those of you Chapel Members it’s what we refer to as BHAG). One afternoon I painted the security office with a few other women and then when we were finished we played with the kids. It was so great to see all those familiar faces and was awesome meeting new ones for the first time as well. I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to interact with the Haitians my own age and be able to converse with them in both English and Creole.

On Thursday evening I was given the opportunity to lead devotions where I compared the similarities and differences between Africa and Haiti and mentioned that in the end, no matter what country or continent, we are simply following Jesus’ command, “Therefore GO make disciples of all nations” Matthew 28:19. In addition I was also able to lead a group of people into the nearby villages where we went to an orphanage, visited a few houses that previous teams had built, and interacted with the people in the community (and not to mention had the chance to eat at a real Haitian restaurant). I was impressed with how well our team adjusted to the circumstances (including the tremendous heat they had down there!)

  There were 5 other young adults on the trip which allowed me to reach out and mentor to them being first timers and guide them through out the week both emotionally and spiritually. I must admit that my absolute favorite part of this trip was watching these other young adults experience Haiti for the first time and see how they were transformed through out the week. It gives me chills just thinking about how big of an impact it had on their lives (not to mention mine too!). It gives me joy to know their lives had been touched by the Lord and it’s awesome to know that our love for Haiti will be something shared between us forever.

   

 So, now I’m facing the starting line of my Junior year at University of Saint Francis where I’m taking on two clinical days and where I will hopefully become more confident in my nursing skills. In addition to classes and clinicals I have recently joined the Peer Ministers at USF, where I will be connecting with other students and hopefully help get them connected into outreach in the community. I will be working towards doing one project each semester this year to get my fellow students involved in supporting Mission of Hope in Haiti, and would like to accomplish forming a student spring break trip planned to go to Haiti my senior year. I am also pursuing to obtain more knowledge and experience with missions so I will be interning in the outreach office at The Chapel at least one day a week. I’m pleased to also be working with a team of young adults on Sunday mornings to help The Chapel change their variety of worship in order to target people of all generations.

             I’m particularly excited to see what’s next for me in God’s plan. I have dreams of someday combining my nursing knowledge with my passion for those unreached people of the world. Where that will lead me, only God knows, but it motivates me to keep seeking Him and making sure I continue to follow His path instead of my own.

            Once again, I would like to thank each of you for all of your generosity, support, and prayers. Thank you for being my “senders” and supporters. Without you it would have been difficult to follow my heart and step out in this life changing journey (which has just begun!). I believe God still has plans for me to continue discipling. On any future trips I will use this blog to update those of you who are interested in hearing stories and viewing pictures. Thank you so much for your invested interest in glorifying God!

 

 Feel free to comment, email, or even call!

 

God Bless!

 

For Him,

Melissa Martin