A Changed Destination

This week, Al and I are leading a team from Michigan who have been planning and preparing for their time in Haiti for over 2 years.  That, in itself, blows me away, but there is a combination of stories that show how God really works in amazing ways in the background.  Here is a very brief version of some of the stories I have been told this week.

In Michigan...
There was a team of 22 people who had put so much time, energy, prayer, and effort into preparing for a mission trip to Haiti.  They went to a short term missions training conference in Canada and have worked together as a team to make sure they were ready.  In their hearts, they felt called to serve at an orphanage for the week that they would be down here.  They were placed to serve in Gressier, a community at the southern edge of Port-au-Prince.  They received the news that they wouldn't be serving at an orphanage for the full week, but would visit an orphanage a couple of times during the week.

As the trip approached, there were a number of things that happened that were confusing and hard for the team to accept--one of which was a pretty serious surgery on the group leaders' shoulder.  They pushed on, knowing that they were going to be in Haiti soon.

In Haiti...
Al and I received a call from our boss a week before this team arrived and asked if we would be willing to switch with him to lead this team instead of the team we were scheduled to lead.  He told us that we could change the location that the team would be serving in if we wanted to do that as well.  We talked it over and thought about the possible locations for this team to serve in.  We thought of an orphanage that has been asking us to bring a team.  We decided that we should lead this team and serve at this orphanage.  We had heard nothing about this group or their desire to serve at an orphanage or anything about them at all.

A week went by after we let our boss know that we would take this team before we talked to the group leader for the first time.  They were scheduled to be in Haiti two days after that call.  On that call we talked about the projects for the orphanage, the lodging at the orphanage, the donations the orphanage needed, and so many other things.  I could hear the group leader getting more and more excited about the upcoming trip.  We hung up the phone and said, "See you on Saturday."

On Saturday...
The team arrived a couple of hours late, but excited to be in Haiti.  We heard their stories.  They shared all the things God had done for them.  They began making themselves at home.  They started forming relationships with the kids.  They started serving.

And now...
Today, after a couple of days of great ministry, I know that God had this in mind for this team before we knew about them.  He put Al and I with this team at this orphanage for this week for a purpose.  Today, as the team was presenting the many suitcases full of donations (peanut butter, soap, toothpaste, clothes, shoes, school supplies, and so much more) from their church a couple of things were brought to my attention.  First, that the church members kept showing up with more and more donations even as the team was heading out of the church to catch their flight.  One church member even paid for ALL the extra luggage (quite a hefty fee) so all these donations could get here.  And second, that their luggage tags had all the "old" destination addresses written on them.  Sometimes we make plans and we think they are the best, but God has already determined what steps we will take.

"We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps."  Proverbs 16:9

5 Surprising and Humbling Words

The last two trips Al and I led have been in new locations where relationships are just beginning to be formed.  The pastors of these churches have been such a blessing and the teams we have led have been amazing to work with.  I have been blessed to remember not only why we do what we do, but that God continues to use us in different ways.  One way that I have been blessed, surprised, and humbled by is in hearing 5 words attached to my name.  Those words are "Will you translate for me?"

This is an exciting breakthrough for me that I didn't think would happen so soon, but God saw that it was time to give me understanding and words to translate.  It is a blessing and a surprise.  I didn't think it would be humbling, but now that those words are used so often all I can do is thank God for His provision in this area.  He is so good.

I have found that teams will often ask me to translate words and phrases for them in the past, but these last two weeks have been different because Haitian children, adults, and even pastors have asked for me to translate for them.  Wow.  Even though I always wanted to get to that point, I didn't think that it would come so suddenly.  Praise God.

On Sunday last week, Pastor Jacky called me up front and had me translate from Creole to English for the team even though there were other translators present.  He must have known I needed to be pushed just a little bit to start to have the confidence I needed to translate well and to get the first time behind me.  What a blessing.  I was nervous, scared, and humbled, but praise God that He truly did give me the understanding that I needed to translate well for the team.

I know this doesn't sound like much, but those 5 words were truly surprising and humbling to experience!  As we continue to lead teams, I am looking forward to many opportunities to use this language to be able to bridge the language barrier gap for teams to be able to minister and share their stories well.  I am also excited for the relationships that I will be able to form now with the help of God.

Thank You, God, for this blessing.  Thank You for choosing me to serve You here.  Please continue to use my tongue and my mind to bring You more glory.