His work | travay non Bondye

[jenni, ellen, alex, me, kathy, belinda, patty, hollis]

God does not need me. yet He chooses to use me. He pursues me. He works in me. He works through me.

“for we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

[ephesians 2:10]

all of it is for His glory—that the world may know He alone is God. i am but a small piece of a bigger story. He has opened my eyes anew to His grace, His work around me, and His desire to hear and answer our prayers. these are a few glimpses of His faithfulness, kindness, and provision that i saw last week.

kathy | our team member kathie from california (who used to live in charlotte) was unable to go with us at the last minute. but, we arrived in titanyen only to discover that a kathy from california was there by herself and would be joining our team for the week. grin.

salem | our intern for the week boldly and beautifully shared her story of brokenness and redemption with us sunday night and then was able to share her story in schools and in the brothel throughout the week as we watched the Lord open door after door.

counselors | we had three counselors on our small team of eight women. their knowledge and training was pivotal during our time with young girls from the schools on tuesday morning. they recognized signs of abuse, hurt, and pain in the way these young girls were interacting with our lesson and quickly changed our agenda. they were able to speak the message of truth, worth, and restoration over these young girls.

orlkine, gabe, and villarson | one of our village champions and two translators spoke candidly and passionately with us about their desire to change the culture of their village by loving the women working as prostitutes. they shared prayers to find alternative ways for these women to provide for their families. this is not our agenda. we did not have to cast a vision. these sweet friends already have the desire to bring hope and redemption to minoterie.

hollis’ voice | our fearless team leader had a sore throat to the point that it hurt to talk on tuesday afternoon and evening. before going to bed, we prayed for healing. we knew the next day was a day she had anticipated for a long time—the chance to look into the eyes of these women and tell them how loved they are no matter what they do. and wouldn’t you know, her throat was healed when we woke up wednesday morning. no medicine needed, only Jesus’ touch.

brothel owner | he had an appointment for us to meet with the women on wednesday morning and we had their full attention. he set out chairs to make sure we were comfortable and shooed men away to avoid distraction. he invited us back for the afternoon. God's hand of favor was upon us.

tessa | we had another “solo server” join us on wednesday. tessa came down from indianapolis by herself and joined the medical team each day…except for wednesday when she came with us. it wasn’t our plan, but it was His. that was the day we gave the women hygiene kits and talked to them about how to take care of themselves. tessa’s presence with us that day and medical knowledge was perfectly and divinely planned.

rain | halloween in haiti is a day known as “party of the dead” and it kicks off a three day voodoo festival every year—the largest one of the year. as we stood on the roof of our home away from home on friday night, we could see and smell large fires burning in the village of titanyen at the bottom of the hill. two women on our team prayed boldly that God would bring the kind of rain that would put out the fires and send everyone home. no more than 30 minutes later, the skies opened up and the hardest rain we had all week was upon us. over the next hour, it intensified to the point that i couldn't hear the person talking across the circle. no more fires. He hears the prayers of His people.

language | throughout the week, i sporadically remembered phrases i learned in french over 10 years ago and was able to use them in conversation. since creole is basically french slang, the bits of french still lingering in the recesses of my mind were incredibly helpful and it was nothing short of miraculous that i could remember them.

for all the ways i saw His handprint in Haiti, i’m confident i missed many more. He’s not done working and i am eager to return and once again link arms with my haitian brothers and sisters working to bring the hope of Christ and a story of redemption to the village of minoterie.

“being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

[philippians 1:6]

bekah

live unashamedly :: laugh uncontrollably :: love unconditionally