A Beautiful Mess

I saw a facebook post from one of my friends that went to Haiti with me where she described Haiti as a "beautiful mess".  I thought this was the perfect description for what I saw, heard, and experienced June 24 - July 1 in Grand Goave, Haiti.  On the flight back home I was scribbling away in my journal trying to recount each and every memory from my mission trip and I was struck by the number of contrasts I was writing about.  For example, when we arrived in Haiti we landed in the capital city, Port-au-Prince.  We had about a two hour van ride to Grand Goave where we stayed for the week.  Before the plane even touched down it was already blatantly obvious that we were in the poorest country in the western hemisphere.  As I looked out the plane window I could see "tent cities" everywhere.  These were homes made of tarps, mattress walls, sheets, scraps, etc.  On our two hour drive I was saddened by the filth and poverty that were everywhere.  There is no garbage system in Haiti so the streets are covered in large piles of trash.  I never saw a single trash can the whole trip.  But, in sharp contrast, Haiti is also one of the most beautiful places I have been.  There are huge mountains that are visible in the distance and the island is surrounded by the crystal-clear blue Carribean. 

Another drastic contrast was joy and anger.  The people of Haiti could be so kind and tender, but I also saw lots of anger and pent-up rage come out at times, even in the children.  This was especially the case when we started to serve food.  You could tell that they definitely had taken on a "survival of the fittest" mentality. 

There was pride and apathy.  Most of the people seemed to take great pride in their appearance, but they also showed apathy in their care for their surroundings by throwing trash everywhere.

In some ways Haiti seems decades behind most other countries, but in other ways they are very knowledgeable about current events, especially when it comes to pop culture.  It was so strange to have a child who lived in a tent ask if we could be their facebook friend and then want us to type our name into their cell phone.

There was also a noticeable contrast spiritually.  An estimated 70% of Haiti's population practice Voodoo.  At times our team experienced an obvious evil presence because it is so prevalent.  However, we also witnessed some of the most beautiful praise and worship of our mighty God.  It is overwhelming to hear the Haitian congregations singing with all their heart and soul to worship the same God I do.  Our first night there we were having dinner at the orphanage that served us lunch and dinner all week.  We could hear loud singing coming from the church on the premises.  When one of our translators came by I asked him what they were singing.  He said, "They are singing, 'We worship you Lord.  You are Alpha and Omega.  We worship you Lord.' "  They repeated this over and over with growing passion and praise.  It was such a beautiful moment in the midst of such an overwhelming mess.

Haiti Bound

As you all know, I am leaving tomorrow at midnight for 8 days in Haiti.  I will be traveling with 11 other people from my church.  We will be conducting VBS during the week for different groups of kids.  I am so excited to see how God will use us during this awesome adventure. 

My prayer for the week is that God will challenge, stretch, and grow me in ways that I have never been challenged, stretched, and grown before.  I want to be uncomfortable for Jesus.  I want to step out of my comfort zone and love with reckless abandon.  I want to be Christ's hands and feet as I love on people.  I want to learn more about what it means to have the heart of a servant.  I want to grow in relationships with my team members as well as my relationship with Christ.  I want to see lives changed, hearts healed, and hope restored. 

^"For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me. Then these righteous ones will reply, Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink?  Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing?  When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?  And the King will say, I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!" - Matthew 25:35-40

Gregory

Last week I shared the link to Gregory Morris's caringbridge site.  A local news station did a story about him over the weekend.  It is such a sweet picture of his family, his faith, and the reality that he is still just an 11 year old boy facing such a nasty illness.

#4 (Camping) - Check

Last weekend I went on a camping and white water rafting trip with some friends from church.  We left Saturday morning and headed to Tennessee to raft down the Ocoee River.  We got to our campsite and set up our tents and then went to meet up with our guides to get ready to go rafting.  I had never been white water rafting before so I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  Some people said, "It's so much fun, you will love it!"  Others mentioned things like flesh-eating bacteria, falling out, flipping over, and the approximate number of people that die each year rafting this river.  I tried to ignore those people.  I was excited and maybe a little nervous when we reached the end of our bus ride and looked out to see the dam creating some major rapids right at the start.  We had a brief lesson with our fabulous guide and headed down to get in the water.  It was AWESOME!  I wanted to do it again and again. 

We rafted pretty late in the day, so we were ready for a campfire dinner when we got back.  We had hotdogs and S'mores.  We sat around the campfire and talked, laughed, played games, and just enjoyed being together.  It was all fun... until we got in the tent and tried to go to sleep.  My quilt did not provide enough padding on the rock hard ground.  I laid on the ground in the middle of 7 other girls and heard the following: "It is like a sauna in here.  I can't breathe.  Can we open the front flap?"  "NO!  It is supposed to rain and I do not want to wake up in a puddle." (Of course that was assuming we would ever actually fall asleep)  "Who is snoring?"  "I am laying on a limb.  Can we move over a little?"  "Other tents, can y'all hear us?"  "YES!  We are roughly 5 feet away from you."  "Is that rain?"  "Seriously, who is snoring?"  Needless to say I slept approximately 1 hour and then we all got up the next morning and had to attempt to take down the tents and load the car with our wet, muddy, and dirty stuff.  Which is why we were all so very glad to head to Cracker Barrel for breakfast before heading back home.  We had a great time, but I'm pretty sure we all agreed that next time there would need to be a cabin (or a Hilton) involved. 

Faith of a Child

A few days ago I found out that one of my students from this past year was recently diagnosed with Lymphoma.  He is one of the sweetest children I have had the privilege of teaching.  He often talked about his faith, how much he loves his family, and has such a kind spirit towards everyone around him.

I remember back in the fall when I was grading vocabulary tests and came across his answer that melted my heart.
Q: Recommend two things that would help a disheartened person.
A: Telling he/she it's gonna be ok or reading the Bible to them.

I was reminded of this as I was reading the journal postings on his Caring Bridge site earlier today and was not surprised when I read about his reaction to this news.  Click here to read about this amazing boy.

Please pray for Gregory and his family as they begin this journey together. 

#11 - Check

Number 11 on my 2012 list was to get a passport.  This was carried over from 2011 since I never got around to it last year.  Since I applied to go on my mission trip to Haiti, I knew I would have to have a passport.  I finally applied for it about a month ago and this past Monday it was in the mailbox when I got home.  I was soooooo excited to see it and know that I could travel anywhere now.  Can't wait to put it to use on June 23 when I head out of the country to Haiti!

We Meet Again

Many of you have heard me talking (for weeks now) about my team training for Haiti.  I found out about a month ago that we would have a full day of team training this past Saturday.  I was super excited about spending the day with my team until I read on and saw two words that stopped me in my tracks... "Ropes Course".  Are you kidding me???  Can I just have one summer where I don't have to do a ropes course to volunteer for something?  (See previous post here.)  I continued to be positive and thought maybe this ropes course would just consist of activiites where we have to use one rope, two boards, and a backpack to get our team from one side of a flat, open area to the other side.  No one has to pick me up, push me, pull me, etc.  But, God has a sense of humor and that was not going to be the case. 
We started out the morning by doing simple team building activities which allowed us to get to know each other.  We had a (questionable) lunch that is supposed to prepare us to eat whatever is set before us on our mission trip.  (Let me just say, if Haiti eats lots of raw plantains I am gonna have a hard time).  Then we hiked deep into the woods to begin the ropes course.
We started off by doing "the spider web".  I immediately piped up and claimed the bottome hole of the spider web (big and close to the ground).  Then we did an activity where we had to traverse a cable while pushing against a partner on a different cable across from us.  Next, we hiked up a hill where the above picture stood towering (and laughing) above me.  I (again) endured the awkward moments of having three men hoist my butt up while I had two brave souls pull (yank) me up and over the top of the wall.  I was determined not to give up on any of the activities and simply laughed my way through all of it.  We ended by doing a trust fall from a 5 foot high platform.  I. did. it. all. 
I loved it!  Yes, that is correct.  I loved every minute of the day!  Let me explain why...
1. I already knew 3 people in the group and had spent the morning forming connection with the other group members, so the setting was way more comfortable than before.
2. Most of our group is close to my age, unlike at camp where I was depending on wee college freshman girls or frat boys to pick me up.
3.  I was not as self-conscious about my weight this time because I am in the process of doing something about it (I have lost 34 pounds since January :)
4.  Our mission team is AWESOME!  Everyone was so encouraging, patient, kind, etc.  I cannot wait to go to Haiti with this amazing group of people!