Life and Death in Haiti
March 16, 2009
Devine Moments
By the grace of God and the blessings of my nursing professors, I was able to take a week off of nursing school so I could go back to the beginning (for my 3rd mission trip to Haiti). While I was in Haiti God provided a variety of opportunities to love and be like Christ. This trip I was able to set up a Health Education room where we provided each patient with hygiene supplies, basic health education, and hats/shoes to take with them. The rewarding part of this experience was the opportunity of telling them who Jesus is and what it means to be a follower of Christ. The most divine part of the trip was when I had the opportunity to lead my first two people to Christ. The second person was a 14 year old girl. I had just seen her mom an hour before (who declined to hear anything about Jesus.) You see, her mom was a voodoo priestess (which for those of you who aren’t sure, voodoo is the worship of Satan and his “angels”) and Jesus stood against everything she was taught to believe. Her daughter, who came in by herself, had never heard of Jesus, and when I told her about Him and what He had to offer, she seemed interested, but was still a little hesitant. So I gave her a salvation bracelet and told her what it represented. I told her that Jesus was always with her, wherever she was, and that He is waiting for her whenever she decides to accept Him into her life. As I was getting ready to say goodbye she told the translator she wanted to know Him. I led her in the acceptance prayer (had the translator translate) which she then repeated and accepted Christ into her heart and life that day. She was absolutely BEAMING afterwards!!! She had the biggest smile on her face when I told her that she was now my sister in Christ and that someday we would be reunited in Heaven. I gave her a big hug, invited her back to church at the mission the following Sunday and said goodbye. As awesome of an experience as it was, I felt there was something missing, I felt God tugging at my heart. But more on that in just a moment…
Difficult Moments
What we saw on our last day will be ingrained into my mind for a long time. About 20 minutes from the mission I was talking to my friend about the road construction in Haiti. You see the government has done a great job at fixing the roads so there aren’t so many potholes and enormous bumps everywhere, especially after the 4 hurricanes ripped through and destroyed everything. But what seems to be such a great advancement is also a frightening situation as well. We noticed that the Haitians were driving even faster than before and that we were afraid there would be more accidents. About 5 minutes after discussing this, we drove up on the most horrific thing I’ve ever seen. As the bus started to slow down we saw hundreds of Haitians gathered along side the road and two busses and a tap tap (taxi truck) piled into each other. The two buses had hit head on, one of which had rolled, and the tap tap was crushed in between the two. As we drove up closer on the accident we were able to see blood splattered on the outside of the vehicles, and we were instructed that we could not stop, that we had to protect ourselves and keep going. As bad as we wanted to stop and help, we knew it wasn’t smart to get off in the middle of all the chaos. And as we started to drive past the accident we looked at the back of one the busses and saw dead bodies stacked upon each other (some of them children). My heart still aches when I think about or picture the accident. It’s hard talking about life and death, and now I know it’s even harder witnessing it. That week I saw one life begin (or be reborn) and anothers end. Friends, it all helped me realize that the work we do and the time we spend in Haiti (and in our everyday lives) is extremely valuable. It reminded me how important it is to be the light of Christ to each person I encounter, because you really never know when it could be their last moment.
What’s Next
Do you remember that 14 year old girl I was privileged to lead to Christ? Remember how I felt something was missing afterwards and how God was laying something heavy on my heart? Well, that week I felt God was calling me to return to Haiti, but for a greater amount of time. He put this longing in my heart to want to be able to continue to disciple people, like that young girl who prayed to God for the first time that day. It made me thankful for the blessing I had of welcoming my new sister into the family. She quite possibly could have been one of the unlucky ones piled up in the back of the bus that day. It made me realize how crucial it is to follow my heart, when I feel God speaking to me. And if God called me to Haiti that week just so that I could witness to those two individuals, let me tell you dear friends, it was worth every penny and every single second of my time!
When we left Haiti I felt a piece of my heart was left behind, once again. But as I continued to pray about it and seek the Lord, I knew in my heart that the Lord was not done with me in Haiti. I have decided to follow where I feel God is calling me and am in the process of applying for an internship down in Haiti for when I graduate (summer of 2010). A lot can happen in one year, and I have prayed that the Lord will open doors that no man can close, and close doors that no man can open. I have laid out my heart to Him and am willing to go wherever He leads me.
So, I’m now in the midst of searching and applying for jobs for the summer, and also to make plans for when I will visit Haiti again this year. I’m making plans to learn Haitian Kreole so that I can better converse with my brothers and sisters back in Haiti next time. As I finish this last semester of my Junior year, I’m not sure what God has planned for tomorrow, or next week, or next month. But I’m incredibly excited to see what’s next and to see what God has in store for me each day. I’m comforted by God’s promise in Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
I pray that you too can find peace in the promises the Lord has made!
Blessings my friends,
Mel
