Haiti Pictures - House of Hope

Haiti Pictures - Fort Jacques

Haiti Pictures - Downtown Port-au-Prince

My First Week in Haiti

I’m here! I made it down to the orphanage without any problems. It feels like I’ve done three weeks worth of stuff just in a week. I would like to thank Eric, Jeff, Matthew, Brian, Philip and Amanda for coming down and helping me set up my room. I couldn’t have done it without their help.

I’m trying to get settled. Everything is still new and unfamiliar. It is an experience dealing with the intermittent power from the electric company. I’ve learned how to run the pump and the generator. I’m enjoying the people and the culture. I’ve picked some more Creole, but I still have a long way to go before I can speak it. Playing with the orphans is a great blessing. I’m just beginning to plan the English classes I’m going to teach and I’m thinking about doing some PE classes as well.

I will post some journal entries soon. But for now here are a few random pictures.

No Bargains with God

This may sound strange, but in preparing to go to Haiti I felt the Lord wanted me to ask for something. I fumbled. I struggled. I thought it was arrogance making me want to ask for something. So I told myself I wouldn’t ask for anything.

Yet, I grew concerned. I recalled this passage:

11 "Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights."
12 But Ahaz said, "I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test."
13 Then Isaiah said, "Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also?
Isaiah 7:11-13 (NIV)

If the Lord wanted me to ask then I needed to ask. So I asked the Lord for something very personal and close to my heart. And as the words passed my lips I knew I had asked for the wrong thing.

I cannot say to the Lord give me personal safety then I’ll go to Haiti. I cannot say to the Lord give me a wife then I’ll go to Haiti. I cannot say to the Lord give me success then I’ll go to Haiti. He is the Master. I am the servant. He is the King. I am the subject. He says go. I go. He says come. I come. There is no bargaining with God.

The Lord says go to Haiti. So I go to Haiti. It does not matter if I get sick or I am lonely or even if I die. The command has been given and it must be obeyed.

I asked for forgiveness. But I still felt I should ask for something. I didn’t know what to ask for. I was fearful. This time I prayed. And I prayed.

In January I was reading the Psalms and I found it. What did I ask for?

4 One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.
Psalms 27:4 (NIV)

One Week

I move to Haiti in one week. I move to Haiti in one week. I move to...

That’s been running through my head all day. It almost doesn’t seem real. Next week it will be all too real I’m sure. It’s almost hard to believe that I’ve been planning to move to Haiti for two years. Well, it’s finally here.

I’m very excited! I know I will face many challenges, some I can’t even imagine. But I’m ready to go. Well, maybe I’m not ready. But I am willing to go and I trust that the Lord will make me ready.

Isaiah 66:1-2

Am I humble? Am I contrite in spirit? Do I tremble at his word?

Isaiah 66:1-2 (NIV)
1 This is what the LORD says:
"Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
Where is the house you will build for me?
Where will my resting place be?
2 Has not my hand made all these things,
and so they came into being?"
declares the LORD.
"This is the one I esteem:
he who is humble and contrite in spirit,
and trembles at my word.

Do I weary myself for the Lord...

...or do I weary the Lord? Do I burden the Lord with my sin when he has never been a burden to me? Do I plan to serve the Lord the way he planned my salvation? Is my energy poured into sin or service?

Isaiah 43:14-28 (NIV)

14 This is what the LORD says—
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
"For your sake I will send to Babylon
and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians,
in the ships in which they took pride.
15 I am the LORD, your Holy One,
Israel's Creator, your King."
16 This is what the LORD says—
he who made a way through the sea,
a path through the mighty waters,
17 who drew out the chariots and horses,
the army and reinforcements together,
and they lay there, never to rise again,
extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
18 "Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland.
20 The wild animals honor me,
the jackals and the owls,
because I provide water in the desert
and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen,
21 the people I formed for myself
that they may proclaim my praise.
22 "Yet you have not called upon me, O Jacob,
you have not wearied yourselves for me, O Israel.
23 You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings,
nor honored me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with grain offerings
nor wearied you with demands for incense.
24 You have not bought any fragrant calamus for me,
or lavished on me the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins
and wearied me with your offenses.
25 "I, even I, am he who blots out
your transgressions, for my own sake,
and remembers your sins no more.
26 Review the past for me,
let us argue the matter together;
state the case for your innocence.
27 Your first father sinned;
your spokesmen rebelled against me.
28 So I will disgrace the dignitaries of your temple,
and I will consign Jacob to destruction
and Israel to scorn.