Blog 8/16/16 Car For and LaLoo
Today was day one in Haiti, with the team and boots on the
ground. Yesterday was travel, but we
learned a lot about each other which worked well to prepare us for our upcoming
mission. Began the day at Car For, where
we saw many women in need of compassion and comfort from our Lord, Jesus. They were so happy to see us as we entered
their room, prepared to give them lotion, love and prayers. In this day, three women stood out. The first woman really wanted lotion but her
legs were extremely swollen, she was obviously in a lot of pain. But still, she so wanted to get the lotion,
and some love, I was amazed as she insisted on moving her legs onto the
bed. She cringed, and broke my
heart. What could I do but comfort her? She would smile and cringe as I gently put
lotion on, her skin was so tight because of the swelling. As I spoke to her, she would smile, I would
ask if it was ok, she insisted yes. But
still, I felt I could not hurt her any more.
Finally, we had to move on, and I prayed for her. As I prayed, she looked intently at me,
realizing I was praying. I watched as a
peace and calming came over her while the words came out of my mouth… God is
your refuge, He loves you with an everlasting love, may He bring peace and comfort
to you as He protects you. You are His
beautiful daughter. The joy of the Lord
is your strength. Love overwhelming covers
you, in Jesus name, Amen. As I left her
I saw the light of God come over her, she was peaceful and a look of
gratefulness and peace shined from her eyes.
As I left the room, she smiled again at me, and waved.
Later, I saw a very young woman, extremely weak waiting to
get a moment with one of us. Her eyes
lit up as I asked her if she would like some lotion. As I came up to her, she told me her name,
and I began to lotion her arms. They
were extremely thin and weak. As I rubbed
lotion on her, I started speaking to her.
She didn’t really understand me, but kept smiling as I spoke. I kept speaking the joy of the Lord, to rest
in Him for His strength comes from joy. What
a beautiful absolutely stunning smile came out of her. We locked eyes, and all I could do was smile
back. I gave her some more words of
encouragement, and prayed over her. She
lit up as I said Jesus loves you, and again, that stunning smile! As I finished, I saw Kristine praying over a
woman across the room. She was praying,
and crying. I came across the room, and
took the woman’s other hand. She was in
so much pain, literally crying from it.
I started to pray too, and the Holy Spirit moved as we were
praying. She looked at us with tears,
crying for Jesus, as we prayed for Him to bring her home and end her
suffering. I wept. My heart broke wide open.
As we left, I met a young man, who was excited to begin his
life. He spoke with such hope and faith,
all about a bright future. The contrast
was amazing… these women, at death’s door, awaiting the ultimate end with our
Lord Jesus, and this. This bright,
vibrant young man dreaming how he would impact the world. As I left I could not help but think about
his JOY. Joy for life. Then I realized all three of those women,
even in pain, were grasping, and sometimes even showing joy. The JOY of the Lord is their strength.
Blog 8/17/16 Water Truck Day 1
Today we had water truck day. We didn’t have much time to really think, as
usual, as the truck pulled up. It always
happens… we get there, and boom. The
doors open and “Hey You!” The children
come up and all sorts of fun ensues. We
didn’t have any issues on three stops, the team kept it all together as we ran
the hose and alternated on who held it, and moved the buckets. The first stop
was pretty calm, near Hope Church. We
enjoyed the time seeing the church, I remember when it was a huge pile of
garbage, now a church and soon a school, too.
As always, it is tough to leave, but this time, I truly felt hope in
Cite Soleil. The eyes always get to me,
the children’s eyes with such hope and beauty.
Even those that were so sick, I could still see Jesus in them. The least of these, we helped them today, and
for that I’m truly grateful. The most
enjoyable thing that happened to day was watching my team. For many it was the first time. Each had children at some point, and each was
lighting up faces over and over again.
So great to see playing and bucket lifting and water hose splashing, and
just plain fun. In the midst of a world
of little, we brought gifts of much more than we knew. Thank you Jesus for bringing us this gift of
doing this for these beautiful people!
Jan
Praying
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