It’s been 3 years since I went to Haiti for outreach and a piece of my heart is still there. I was first broken for Haitians when I went to a Haitian village in the Dominican Republic (DR) which was near a garbage dump. I was told that those Haitians were there illegally there hoping for a better life in the DR, but by the way they were living it was worse. They had no running water, in fact the water they were drinking out of was a barrel of standing rain water that would drain off of their rusted tin roofs. Flies and mosquitoes often congregated around these water barrels. I saw many children with hardly any clothes on and very few were wearing shoes, let alone sandals. It was poverty at it’s core.
These pictures were taken at the Haitian village in the DR.
After about 2 weeks in the DR, I traveled to Haiti for 3 weeks. I was completely humbled as I traveled from Port-au-Prince (the capitol) to Jacmel where I stayed with a YWAM base there. My heart was broken even more as I compared my life back home to the poverty I was seeing right before my eyes. I was intimidated for the 1st week of my stay because I didn’t feel like I was doing enough for that country, but as time went on I developed more boldness within my spirit.
It has been almost 3 weeks since a 7.0 earthquake shook most of the country of Haiti. Immediately when I had heard the news my heart was broken for the Haitians. As I was praying for the country I felt so helpless because I so badly wanted to go and help out in any possible way. But as I was praying God reminded me that what I am doing, praying, is doing so much that I cannot even fathom. Also as I was praying I strongly felt like I will be going back to Haiti sooner than when I thought. Since I went on my outreach to the Caribbean I have always had a feeling that I would be going back but never knowing when and thinking it would be in the distant future. But I felt like God was telling me that I’d be going back to Haiti (possibly leading an outreach team) sooner than later. As I continue to pray and watch/read the news about the devastation of the earthquake I am anxious to go back to Haiti and help, but only anxious for God’s timing.
The Palace now after the earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
(picture taken by one of my missionary friends January 30, 2010)
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
--- Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)
A building in Jacmel, Haiti
A boy at an orphanage that my team and I helped at.
I got attached to this little boy.
