💓 Team 1 = Texasabetes - Day 2 👵
Team Texas has a saying when we are in Haiti... the rule is to be like "Gumby". For those who have no idea who Gumby is... look up the green claymation figure that bends every way. When you are in Haiti, you have to learn to be flexible. The schedule can change at a drop of the hat. So far this trip has proved to be no different. What was supposed to be our schedule lasted for 15 minutes and then we were diverted to another task. No matter - whatever we are supposed to be doing - it is in God's timing and not ours.
Today turned into Elder Visits. To define "elder" in Haiti would require the explanation that the average life expectancy is 64 years, compared to 79 in the United States. We were privileged to visit 4 of the local elders in Titanyen. In some cultures, elders are revered for their knowledge and understanding of the world. In Haiti, most elders are no longer able to contribute to the household therefore are often forgotten about. We visited these 4 residents, bringing them food, juice, water and washing their feet. It is a very humbling experience to wash a stranger's feet, just as Jesus washed the disciple's feet. To be allowed in their homes is a honor. Some local children gathered with us at one of the houses while we were there. Their smiles bring joy. They were quick to braid a couple of our team mates hair too. Our last elder left a few of us with a troubled mind. He was blind, deaf and layed on a mattress on the floor. He was happy and ready to eat the food we brought for him. It raised questions in one of our team mates mind- did he have more expectations in life? When asking all these Elders, what their prayer requests were.. they didn't ask for "things". They asked for health, they asked for their children to be cared for, they asked for them to make decisions pleasing to the Lord, they asked to walk again and one even asked for death. Visiting these elders is a special time and it is a reminder that we are all God's people and we are called to serve each other.
“ Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them."
John 13:14-17
Titanyen seemed busier to us this time. It was actually a market day and people came from surrounding areas to buy fruit, bread, rice, etc... There was an area of "parked" donkeys awaiting their owners to carry their goods home. I think one donkey has a Mercedes emblem on it's butt but don't hold me to that. Curious Hatians stared as we walked through a small sea of people. We have never been to their market before so we welcomed this experience.
You don't have to travel to a foreign country to do God's work. Can you imagine washing strangers feet in your hometown? The Bible tells us how to live. It seems so simple. Why does it seem so simple here but so much harder back home? We know these things, we, more often than not, we know what God wants us to do and we will always be blessed when we do them.
Words of the Day: happiness, "goo-bye", comfortable being uncomfortable, humanity, compass, innocence, spirtual warface, "getting out of self, self understanding, accepting self", feet, hidden
