1.
The most common prayer request of the Haitian
people was that their faith would grow stronger, especially in the face of
opposition and persecution. Wow! As Americans, we would have guessed it would
have been for better jobs and better living conditions.
2.
Meditating on John 6 for personal devotions and
seeing the relevance of Jesus’ ministry for our ministry. Jesus is both
sufficient and satisfying as we serve God’s kingdom.
3.
Meditating on John 7 for personal devotions and making
the connection of Jesus’ secret to ministry success to our lives: looking to
his father, seeking the glory of his Father and only doing the will of his
Father.
4.
Realizing that amidst the incredible needs of
Haiti and beyond that Jesus gives us a clear job description in John 6:29 “Jesus answered them, “This is the work of
God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
5.
We learned to avoid the “Savior-complex.” This
includes sensing the need to solve all of Haiti’s problems according to
American priorities by American resources. We learn to serve cross culturally
for the glory of God with God’s resources!
6.
Encountering another culture meant encountering
a God that was bigger than we all realized. He speaks Creole, he understands
the culture, he knows their needs and he is building his kingdom there too!
7.
Encouragement from the Haitian believers in
their faith also meant conviction of our idolatry for comfort and safety.
8.
Having to function in a third world country
brought us to weakness…but we tasted the sweetness in dependence.
9.
Realizing that Haiti is a third world country
economically but the United States may be a third world country in faith and
prayer and community.
10. Life
without cell phones and data plans is so muchly much less distracting.
11. Life
without cell phones forced us to have rich times of interaction and creativity
with one another. Had we all been “connected” we would not have connected with
each other or with God as we did.
12. Praying
much in our ministry during the week generated a heart and hunger for God. We
tasted and saw that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8).
13. We
encountered the power of God who shook Haiti loose from the stranglehold of
Voodoo. We saw how God used a terrible earthquake in 2010 to turn the direction
of a country towards Christ!
14. God
cares for everyone and answers the prayers of those who call out in faith.
15. Other
people have to depend on God in much greater ways than we have to, and we saw
that God takes care of those who put their trust in him.
16. We
felt thankfulness and gratitude at the sacrifice others made so we can have
such a life-giving experience.
17. Admittedly,
there were some things we all really looked forward to coming back to in the
U.S. which we will hopefully grow in thankfulness for.
18. Admittedly,
there were some things we preferred about being in Haiti (i.e. the ease of
sharing Jesus, the joy of sharing Jesus and prayer for people, the simplicity
of a life with very few possessions).
19. We
wondered at why it is so difficult for us to share Jesus so boldly in our own
country…may God grant each of us wisdom and boldness to overcome this.
20. The
zeal for evangelism and God’s kingdom is something none of us want to lose.
21. Daily
Bible reading and meditation on God’s Word is crucial for growth as a
Christian.
22. It
is possible to show the love of Christ despite a language barrier.
23. In
Haiti, planning is good but expect to burn through Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, and
maybe even Plan D. Plan E is to be ready in season and out and to pray
fervently to God!
24. God’s
call to remember the works of the Lord and his steadfast love is key to re-entering
our lifestyles and not falling back into all of the same routines.
25. All
of us want this experience to have lasting change on our lives and the lives of
the Haitians.
Comments
Post a Comment