Haiti, June 26-July 3, 2012 | Blog 1.

Josh and I arrived on Tuesday it is now Sunday afternoon.  We are about to go back to church for a communion service, we were there this morning from 6 till 10ish for the morning service. We have spent the week partaking Haitian life with Pastors Wilson and Gladys and their family. We have spent time at Wings of Refuge Children’s Home and been loved on by the twenty-one little ones...Darvinsley, Angelina, Erinel, Bedechina, Naelka, Fadelin, Clifford, Adeline, Wilson, Sarah, Jovenesse, Keslourna, Renelson, Jean Widmey, Motha, Guirlene, Migelite, Islande, Adelin, Jaunisse, and Ketina.  Each child is so unique. On Thursday we spent the whole day playing at the beach and traveling to and from. The beach time with the children made the journey so worth it.  Josh and Holly had a work day at the site of the new children’s home....I opted to do beading with the children. On Saturday we had a chance to clean the church with Mommy Pas and then we all went out for dinner in Petion-ville.

That is just a brief overview of the week.....the harder part of writing a blog is to try and share with you, the church, the depth of what we have had the privilege of partaking in.  Last year I read Radical by David Platt.  The book inspired me to go on a missions trip out of my context. Haiti fits that description. The language is different, the climate is different, the city is different, the food is different, the transportation is different....so many things are out of my context. I sat in church this morning and a man shared the scripture that was to be preached. It was the story in Numbers about Balaam being told from the Lord to do something. I know God will send you when He wants, to where He wants, and to do what He wants. The challenging part is....will we go... and will we do as we have been asked to do. 

I have been studying the book of Jonah. Here is another man in the Bible who when asked to do a specific task from the Lord had to wrestle it out. Sometimes we hear form the Lord, we start to walk out what we are being lead to do and then it happens.....it becomes HARD. I love those moments because that is a time where my prayers get specific and God makes the seemingly impossible happen. In this process we stretch. Our context becomes bigger. Our faith becomes deeper. Our thanksgiving becomes fuller and our love becomes richer.   

Our partnership with this church family in Haiti will add to us a beautiful depth that if we stay in only our city we would miss out on. The beauty of this exchange is that we get to bring back that compassion, thankfulness experience to our church. In this Divine exchange we get to be the student and the teacher....the servant and the one served.  The church can operate by it’s New Testament design.  

Thank you church for being a part of this mission trip. And, be open...YOU could be next to go. 

-Juliann Aman