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Isn’t it awesome that God knows what He’s doing? There is great comfort that when you don’t know the details- HE does. Not only timing but the fullness of every commitment; even when you haven’t been dealt with honestly and truthfully...He is big and goes on before us pathing a way for His glory. HE will sustain and bless in the midst of any storm.
Oh Lord, our hearts desire and love - May we be faithful
In this season prior to returning to our beautiful home in Haiti, I have not had the words to write a blog or share; when I attempted to I found that my feelings overshadowed what truly needed to be said...but here it goes.
After waiting eight years to move to Haiti for full time ministry - the flood gates are opened and we are here! Everyday was literally living out a kingdom dream of Matthew 25. We came Dec.27th and then sometime at the end of January I got sick. For the first few weeks we just thought it was Malaria or some stomach funk. Then, it began to get really bad and between the pain and not being able to keep anything down, I got extremely dehydrated. Long story short, I was taken to the Medishare hospital in PAP where they determined that I needed to go to the U.S. I spent 10 days in Jackson Memorial in Miami, FL which determined I had hepatitis. The overwhelming love and support of family and friends was a haven for our sweet children and such an encouragement to our spirits and hearts. Resting and learning what God wanted in this time was daily work. We missed Haiti daily and longed to be back.
One month later, as we prepared to come back to Haiti, John got sick with Hep and literally three days before we were set to go the decision was made that we couldn’t. That days was devastating. The whole trial never brought about any doubt of our calling or even discouragement oddly. God so incredible went on before us in healing and provision that we felt the prayers of many sustaining us and literally saw Him at work and felt his presence. We strived to keep the kids stable, and secure but they daily asked to go back to Haiti and continuously talked about the things they missed. Now, the intensity of the emotional and physical heart pain was no longer comforting as a confirmation of God’s call but further drove us to our knees and prayer and climbing into our Saviors arms for peace.
As John healed...God moved mightily in many ways. He had the opportunity to preach, share of God’s work in Haiti and then very practical things like medical financial blessings, taxes and such got done and we were thankful! We couldn’t have made it without the continued love of our “Jesus” family at home and before a host of witnesses I wish that I could proclaim that is what kingdom love looks like, from the tangible things like money, transportation, food and a place to live to the intangible prayers of faith, grace and mercy and LOVE. We sincerely sought the Lord on other issues that we faced in one specific area and felt that he wanted us to return strong with our NWHCM family and mission. We finally got medically released and returned home on April 13th. 61days in the U.S...but oh, the sweetness of the reunion. Coming home was a beautiful thing. We came home to our precious haitian family, named a baby that was born in our absence and got to wrap around our fellow American mission family after a week of tough realization and meetings for them.
We came back to huge and necessary changes. I never thought that I would say this but I am thankful that we were not here for them. God is at work. The aftermath is intense enough. We get to serve with some of the most awesome warriors for Christ, and then as such in a fallen, broken world we serve with some who should not be in the positions they are. Accountability is not always easy but the blessing of dwelling in the light, seeking righteousness so that integrity is the strong hold for love and unity is worth the fight. It’s what we are called to. So, we love...we pray and we seek to be obedient. We are home. Daily being washed by scripture and keeping our eyes on the King who cares about hearts. Discipleship and community pick up right where they left off...we will wait in great expectation upon the Lord for the fruit of spirit in ministry and change for the mission. It’s crazy how separate those two things are.
The fields are ripe for harvest as we seek kingdom excellence. We need your prayers. Now more than ever and through this all we have seen how vital the body of Christ is and how we all support one another’s call to be light in darkness. Pray for a loosening of the chains of bondage on this mission. Pray for brokenness and the courage to do what’s right among the leadership; for the wisdom to remove that which should not be. What a journey a beautiful disaster that brings beauty from ashes.
