The Way I Walk in Haiti

No, I'm not trying to show you something I stepped in! 

If you look closely, you can see on the right side of my shoe, the bottom is starting to come off. Last year when I went to Haiti, by the end of the week, I had to duck-tape my shoes together to make it through the last day. By the end of the second day, I noticed it was happening again. The bottom part had already started to come off.  I found myself saying, "I guess it's the way I walk in Haiti or something." Yes, the terrain where we were is bumpy and rocky; stubs of trees that had been cut off where they cleared the land were sticking up. Maybe that had something to do with it.

It is a land that these ladies walked everyday.

By the third day, they were looking something like this. I didn't think to take a picture, but again, by the end of the week, all of the gray and pink grip part of the top half of my shoes was gone. 

On our next to last work day, the boy in the bright blue shirt, John Mykel, asked me, "Are your shoes good for me?" 

He had found a very special place in my heart, as well as others. He was one of six children, and what a brother and son he was! He was always looking out for his younger siblings, making sure to share with them anything that he was given. When I handed him the shoes the next day, he took them to his sister.

Here, John Mathis and I got in a picture with some of the rest of his family.

Unless you have been to a place like Haiti, it is hard to put into words the feelings you have when you are there. Here are a few: grateful, humbled, blessed....uhh, blessed, humbled, grateful, full, overflowing.

So what is the way I walk in Haiti? Some days, I walked with tears in my eyes. I walked with a smile on my face as I looked into the faces of those who were completely content. I walked with sweat rolling down my back, something that didn't even seem to bother most. I walked with ears listening to the infectious laughter of children, through which volumes were spoken in giggles. I walked in the presence of Jesus at a church service in which I understood nothing, except the name of Jesus in a song. Amazing how the Name of Jesus rings out, no matter the language. At the end of that service, hands were reached out to us, and in unison of voices but individual prayers, we were prayed for by these precious people of God. In closing, they recited the Lord's prayer. I was then walking with a heart overflowing-humbled as they lifted our needs up to the Father.

Returning to "normal" routines today, I thought back to "how I walked in Haiti." How do I do that here? My heart is still there right now. My mind is still singing the songs I learned in Haitian Creole. So how do I walk here they way I did there?

When I walked in to school today, I literally felt sick. Please don't hear that the wrong way. I am very grateful to have a job, and to be able to have such a nice facility to teach in. But as I entered those doors, the faces of those I'd seen for 8 days were before me. The picture of their school was on my mind.

Yes, Praise God, it is better than what it was last year. Now they meet in a concrete brick room, un-airconditioned, no electricity.

I thought about their church and the dancing and praising the lady in the pink shirt gave to the Lord when they got lights in the church, due to the solar panels.

How do they walk in Haiti? They walk by faith.

2 Corinthians 5:7

"That’s why we live with such good cheer. You won’t see us drooping our heads or dragging our feet! Cramped conditions here don’t get us down. They only remind us of the spacious living conditions ahead. It’s what we trust in but don’t yet see that keeps us going. Do you suppose a few ruts in the road or rocks in the path are going to stop us? When the time comes, we’ll be plenty ready to exchange exile for homecoming."

I used those verses last year when I blogged about Haiti. But it just seems appropriate again.

I don't know that we really walk by faith here. We do get stopped by the ruts and rocks in the road that tear up our shoes, and we just go buy new ones. Do we really trust in what we can't see? Is that what keeps us going? My prayer is that I would remember those faces, those songs, those prayers.
To my knowledge, the Lord has not called us to move to Haiti. 
But, I pray as I walk here, in my comings and goings, that my faith would be strengthened, tested, and proven solid, and my dependence only be found on Jesus.