the words i would say...

Sidewalk Prophets is an up and coming band in today's contemporary Christian music industry. While I love so many of their songs, for instance, show me how to love, you can have me, and just might change your life all speak volumes about the life of an individual sold out to God. However, my favorite would definitely have to be their first single, these are the words i would say. Take a moment and reflect on the chorus of this song.

"be strong in the Lord
and never give up hope
you're gonna do great things
i already know
God's got his hand on you
so don't live life in fear
forgive and forget
but don't forget why you're here
take your time and pray...

these are the words i would say"

If you're like me, music speaks in a way that other things cannot. The passion and urgency behind these words resonates with my desire for others to know their worth, the worth that God has given them.

And so, it got me thinking. What are the words I would say? The things I would share? That I want others to know and believe? Turns out, they're not so much my words, as His. So here's what HE says, what HE has shared in his word, and what HE wants us all to know and believe...

1. you are loved more than life itself..................john 3:16
2. He rejoices over you.......................................zephaniah 3:17
3. you are precious.............................................psalm 63:3
4. He comes to your rescue...............................isaiah 64:5
5. His strength fills your weakness....................2 corinthians 12:9
6. you are written on the palm of His hand........isaiah 49:16
7. you are created in His image.........................genesis 1:27
8. He has set you apart.......................................jeremiah 1:5
9. He is enthralled by your beauty......................isaiah 45:11
10. you have not been given a spirit of fear......2 timothy 1:7
11. He is your help...............................................psalm 121:1-2
12. the Lord fights for you...................................exodus 14:14
13. you are honored in His sight........................isaiah 43:4
14. He is your strength........................................habakkuk 3:19
15. you are the apple of His eye........................psalm 17:8
16. you are a jewel in His crown........................isaiah 62:3

yes, i think these are the words i would say...

"Go."

Today is the one year anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti. Since that tragic day, 365 days ago, so much progress has been made, so much aid has been shipped, so much love has been shown. But, there is still so far to go.

I actually wrote this post while in Haiti. Each night before bed, my five sisters and I would climb in our bunk beds and journal about our days while we took turns in the tarantula-infested shower and bathroom. Sometimes my journaling would get redirected into "blogging on paper," and the heart of this post is the result of one of those evenings. Basically, I've just typed up what I had written while there - adding only the last few paragraphs where I had left off.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Such a simple, two-letter word. But ever notice how frequently we use it? Every. single. day. Go get this... or that. Go team! Go to bed. Go to the store. Go ask your father. Green means go. You get the idea.

Part of our goal in coming to Haiti this week is found in Jesus's declaration in Matthew 28:19-20. "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Since arriving here on the mainland, we have been doing a LOT of 'going.' From Port au Prince to Chantal and Cayes to Port Salut, we've gone many places and in many, many ways.

When Dudu met us at the airport shortly after landing in Port au Prince, we loaded all our luggage into a Haitian-style bus. Nice, air conditioned and about as smooth a ride as you'll get going through the streets of Haiti.

Until today, each time we've gone somewhere - either to the church at Chantal or the beach at Port Salut - it has been in our beloved yellow school bus. I don't think I've mentioned before that it has no air conditioning and is missing a couple of windows, but I'm pretty sure that's what makes it ours.

You might have seen where our bus really got going, stopping just short of nailing a tree. Well, yesterday as we were going back to the guest house in Cayes, they back right tire (yes, this would be the one spinning and smoking during the tree incident) blew out - very, very flat. As you might have guessed, our going stopped rather abruptly in the middle of a crowded Haitian street.

However, nothing takes our God by surprise. And as He would have it, Pastor Louis was only about a mile ahead of us in his white pickup truck. In a matter of mere minutes, our team was loaded into the bed of his truck with the rest of his family and we were all going on our way once again. Twenty-two people in the back of a pickup...
only in Haiti.

Another of our more unconventional methods of going to Chantal and back has been a white 15 passenger bus - except we carry as many as 17 passengers at once. See, the real adventure in this vehicle is best understood when considered in conjunction with the roads on which we've been going. We're talking pot holes the size of dump truck tires all over the road. Then you've got to consider that the road itself isn't paved and runs right through the middle of rice fields... lots and lots of rice fields. Add into the equation the fact that the city of Cayes has only three stoplights - all in the middle of a traffic circle - and that our driver could take a full length school bus from 0 to 50 and back again in 10 seconds flat and you might have some idea of a typical journey in Haiti. Guess that might be why it took us almost an hour and a half to go about nine miles one way to the little church in Chantal every day.

Every morning after the bus blew a tire, we would wake up hoping that a new one would be found. And every morning, we discovered that one hadn't. As we were later told, a huge number of the neighboring towns and villages had been searched, but apparently there were no bus tires to be found outside of Port au Prince. Therefore, for the remaining 3 days of the trip, our team of 11 piled into the van with our driver, tools, and a couple of Haitian friends - bringing the total to 17.

I think Mary probably described it best when she said riding in the very back of this now 17 passenger chariot was comparable to a really springy diving board. The last day we went out to Chantal, we also had the added cargo of duffel bags filled with school supplies and clothes. No wonder our heads met the ceiling with nearly every bump in the road.

Definitely a new way to go out into the world. However, I don't think any of us would have wanted it any other way.

Having now been back in the states for almost 6 months, the last day that we set out for Chantal, August 2nd, is probably the day that I will remember forever. While we sat in the same seats, with the same people, on the same roads, with essentially the same goal, aside from Pastor Mike, I don't think any of us had any idea what it would be like leaving these awe-inspiring people for the last time - or how radically they would change our lives in the following days, months, and years. What a privilege it was to go and what a blessing it has been to have gone.

all your needs

"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." - Paul, Philippians 4:19

Paul. I just love Paul. I think it is because he and I seem to have a lot of things in common. I mean, God had to get this guy chained up in prison just so he'd sit still long enough to write most of the New Testament. Paul loved to be going and doing. Me too. I'm just hoping it won't take physical chains or a prison to keep me still enough to accomplish whatever God has planned for me.

And that is why I find myself sitting on my unmade bed, looking out the window at the snowy and icey yard, just being still. Okay, so maybe the TV is quietly on a sports channel in the background, but that's not the point. There's something about the stillness and peacefulness that comes with the snow. And so I've found myself reflecting on that verse from Philippians.

I think Paul got it, like really got it. This guys had been through it all. For years he had been a spiritual giant, though more on the Pharisaical side of it. He knew all the rules and was proud of his religion. But, after a bout of blindness, he also knew the reality that is Jesus. He really lived it, just saying. In 2 Corinthians, Paul boasts in his sufferings for Christ - not so that he could lift himself up, but rather so that He might be lifted up and and others encouraged to stand firm.

Just 7 verses before, in Philippians 4:12, Paul reveals that he knows what it is like to live in plenty and to live in want. He shares that he has learned the secret to being content in any and every situation.

Now, I'm definitely NOT a theologian. In fact, I can barely even spell it without a dictionary. But I would venture to say that Paul was all over this one. I imagine sitting down across the table from him, let's say at Subway, with the conversation going something like this...

Me: "So, Paul, I see here in Philippians that you seem to think you've discovered the secret to being content in life. Is that really even possible?"

Paul: "Without a doubt it's possible. Remember Luke 18:27, nothing is impossible with God."

Me: "Okay, so hypothetically speaking, just what IS this secret?"

Paul: "I'd say it comes down to one word. Jesus. That He is who He says He is. That He loves like He says He loves. That He saves like He says He can save. That He keeps promises and supplies needs, just like He says He will."

So, just a few days after the new year, I can't help but think about all the ways He has more than exceeded all of my needs... A perfect Savior. Loving family. Best friends. Warm house. Abundant food. Clean air and water. Church body.

Then, there are those things I like to say are "just because He can." Free school. Chick-fil-a. College football. Texting. Snow days. A best friend who is content simply to sit with this sister missing her brother. The list goes on and on and on.

So today, I will choose to trust. And in trusting, I hope to be able to say, like Paul, that I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation. For surely, if He can clothe the lilies of the field and feed the birds of the air (Matthew 6), He can be just what I need, just when I need it.

From the Rooftop

“Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing, some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” Hebrews 13:2

Here in Haiti the sun rises early and sets late. And one of the best places to revel in this, the beauty of one of God’s creative masterpieces, is on the roof of the guest house.

This is by far my favorite place to start the morning. Me and God. And just this morning, during our time on the roof, I had approached the throne asking Him to work among us in a way that all we say, without a shadow of a doubt, was, “That was God.”

The life of a believer is a battlefield. And spiritual warfare is a very real thing. But I can’t say we weren’t warned. Take, for example, John 16:33. As some of His last words to His disciples, Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Pay close attention to the wording from that verse. Notice He didn’t say, “if you happen to have a little bit of trouble here or there,” but rather He said, “you will have trouble.” My favorite part of this verse is that last phrase – the incredible promise that Christ’s victory leaves no reason for fear.

The reason I bring that up? Anna’s message for the kids at Vacation Bible School today was the gospel – the hardcore message of the cross. Tonight at the revival service, Cole’s message from Habakkuk was an encouragement that God is good, that He can always be trusted. I’m pretty sure someone didn’t want those messages heard… But Someone else did.

This morning, as we boarded the bus and started down the steep hill at the Cambry mission house, the bus tires slipped, and our driver, Philemon, managed to stop the bus from crashing into a tree. We’re talking mere inches.

After a quick attempt by Philemon to back the bus out of the hole and back up the hill, it was clearly evident that the bus would not be going anywhere anytime soon.

Our next attempt at freeing the bus added the guys from our team and a few men from the mission to push against the front of the bus while Philemon worked the gas pedal. But, with tires spinning and emitting smoke, the bus barely moved an inch.

By this time, many of the orphans had cautiously come up the hill to see what was causing all the commotion. Even with the addition of wood for traction and rocks to help maintain the ground covered, the bus barely budged.

So, the six girls from the team and about twenty little orphan boys boarded the bus and piled around its back right side – hoping to provide some extra weight and traction. Then, with men pushing, the girls praying, and orphans bouncing up and down on the seats, Philemon revved the engine and tried again…

and again…

and again…

Nothing.

On one last attempt (with the same scenario as before), the bus crept up the steep embankment, out of the ditch, and away from the tree. What relief and elation!

You know what the funny this is, though? We didn’t do anything differently on that final attempt. Does it seem even remotely possible that seven men and a couple of teenagers could possess the strength to push a 20,000 pound bus out of a ditch and up the side of a mountain? I think not.

But see, that’s the miracle of our weakness. I love what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10. “’My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Sometimes we may be granted the opportunity to entertain angels.

And sometimes, they just might entertain us.

Pure and Undefiled

Tonight I lost a piece of my heart. It’s somewhere in the mountains of Cayes, Haiti in a small, two-story cinderblock orphanage nested into the base of a hill.

I’m not sure how many of you have ever been to an orphanage, but for me, last night was the first. I think we tend to get a picture of what we imagine something to be like in our heads beforehand, which is perhaps why it rocks our world when we see it for real.

As the sun was setting behind one of Haiti’s majestic mountain ranges, the team was greeted with the sound of singing floating on a breeze up the hill to the Cambry mission house. Under the cover of darkness, we walked the short way down to the orphanage where we found ourselves being hugged on and clung to by so many orphans.

Pastor Mike led us all inside to a small concrete room where a few benches lined the walls. And by the light of two oil lamps, we spent the next half hour singing His praises with His precious children.

I’m not exactly sure when, but somewhere between the words of “I’ve got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy” and “Jesus Loves Me,” I just lost it. There in the middle of a Haitian orphanage, tears streaming down my face, our voices blending with theirs through the refrains of “Papa, m’adore ou” (“Father, I adore You” – also known as the only song we know in Creole), I was reminded and encouraged by the words James 1:27, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

So this is what ‘pure and faultless’ looks like. Little, dark-eyed children holding our hands, arms wrapped around our waists, sitting in our laps, dancing and clapping, and falling asleep, their heads resting against our legs. I had to smile as it hit me that while the precious children surrounding us may be orphans to this world, they have a Dad. A very real Dad who loves them and they love so very much.

And so, with tear-stained cheeks and promises of tomorrow, we made our way back up to the guest house where we concluded our day with a devotion about ‘people who make a difference’... to the sound of a hundred hopeful voices praising the One who has made a difference for me.

Crossing the River

You know that story about the Red Sea? The one where Moses lifted his staff above the waters, and all the Israelites crossed over on dry land. I’m saying, Exodus 14ish.

Well, everyday on the way to Chantal (this is the little village where Pastor Chery runs the church and is building the school), there is a river. Haiti has just finished the rainy season. Enough said?

Just in case that image is still a little too vague, I’d like to add some detail to it. We’re definitely not talking about a minor trickle, rather more like a full-fledged ‘you-can-wash-yourself-and-your-family-and-your-laundry-in-it’ rushing river. The kind where after 20 seconds of bated-breath and keeping everything important off of the bus floor, an eruption of cheering and clapping is a must. And today, our trio of guys even decided to ‘surf’ across the river in the aisle of the bus. Tomorrow, the girls plan to show them how it’s really done.

Such is our river. And while we don’t have a Moses (our driver’s name is Philemon – perhaps his parents missed the memo?) and have yet to cross the river on dry land, we have a God who walks on water. (See Mark 6:49).

And that is more than enough for me.

Stay on the lookout for my pictures on Cole's facebook. We are trying to get them uploaded but the slow connection makes this difficult.

“Kanna. Kanna. Poule.”

Or in other words “Duck. Duck. Chicken.” Just one of the highlights of my journey through Haiti. Before I jump to today, though, here are a few highlights from yesterday:

…all our luggage safely arrived in Port au Prince!! Granted, we had to wait about an hour for it at the airport. But still, huge answered prayer!

…the journey from the airport to Cambry (Cayes) was one unlike any other. I think it took us about 5 hours. (Hey, and Mom, our driver had nothing on Dad’s 90/20/90/20 through the mountains).

…after dinner last night, SLEEP. I have deduced, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that our bodies were definitely made requiring more than 7 hours over sleep per 60 hour time frame.

This morning, refreshed and after a delicious breakfast of bananas, eggs, and bread with peanut butter (apparently here, everything is spread with peanut butter), we jumped on the bus and left for Chantal. On the way, we had to stop and get the lumber for building desks.

Perhaps I should have suspected something about Haiti from yesterday’s experience at the airport, but apparently the saying in Haiti is “Hurry up and wait.” That said, the stop for the wood was not very short. After the Haitian men had loaded over half of it into the bus, Dad realized that instead of 16’ boards, they were only 14’. And thus began the un- and re-loading… this time with the correct dimensions.

The church and school at Chantal is like nothing I’ve ever seen. The kids were waiting for us when we got there, and as we entered, we were greeted by some of the loudest clapping, most beautiful singing, and widest grins on this planet. Let me assure you – our attempt at a Haitian song was much less impressive!!

After Greg taught the Bible story through our interpreter, Barbara, we took the kids outside to play. Soccer. Chase. Frisbee. Jump rope. You name it. Rachel and I (again with the help of Barbara) taught the kids how to play duck, duck, chicken. I don’t think I’ve ever felt like such a target… or heard the word “poule” combined with a pat on the head so much. But it was wonderful. Second only to the children’s contagious laughter.

As I’m typing this, I’m up on the roof of the Mission House with most of the team looking out across the fields and mountains of Haiti. Beautiful. Majestic. And a testimony to our gracious Creator. Bondye.

P.S. Mom, Dad says “hi.”