Friday was amazing! We did radio evangelism which means that we went door to door evangelizing. We would ask Haitians if they knew who Jesus was and then we were able to talk with them for a while. Once we were done talking about Jesus with them (which usually took about half an hour or so each house) then we would hand them a radio that plays only Christian music and then on Sundays, it plays sermons and church services on it. Neat device. It charges in the sun so they can put it out in the day to charge while listening to it and then at night they can listen to it if they charge it during the day. God has used the radios and continues to use them in amazing ways! Churches have even begun because of the radios. One person will have a radio and then the surrounding neighbors will come listen to it.
Back to the update… My team got to three houses. I want to tell you about each of them. It was incredible the way God was working through each of us and giving us the right words to speak so the Haitians could understand and grasp the complete grace and salvation that Christ offers. The team I was in consisted of me, a Haitian translator (who was genuinely the sweetest lady I have ever met!), a Haitian technician (that is what they call the person who records the results from the day), and then a lady from the team that came for a week from the states. (I’m not sure if I mentioned this or not, but the team is from Columbus, Indiana. It was a nice surprise.) So, we set out from a local church about an hour and a half drive from the compound where we are all staying. Each of us were split into teams and then assigned an area to go door to door. We started at this lady’s house and once a white person comes around, the Haitians just flock to see what they have to say. This area that we went to doesn’t normally see white people, which is a good thing. We were able to talk to many people at each house because they wanted to see “blancs”. God used that in amazing ways! So, back to the first house (sorry I keep hitting so many side notes about the trip, I think they’re all important though). This first house we stopped at was just one lady at first. They made me talk first since apparently I’m a pro (meaning I’ve done this once before, which was last year). I was really praying beforehand that God would provide the words so that I could relate to the Haitians and be able to reach them. American culture is nothing like Haitian culture, but I wanted to be able to have something in common to get the conversation going. We chatted about nothing important for a bit then I asked if I could ask her some questions, she said sure. I asked if she believed in Jesus and if she had “placed her confidence” in Him (that’s how they say accepted Jesus). She said no and it wasn’t the right time. I went on to tell her that Jesus tells us to come to him now even with broken hearts and messed up lives. He will fix us. She said no. It’s not the right time. So I told her about Rhea and how in an instant her life changed. You never know what the next day holds. You can’t put off something so important until another day. You may not have another day. The translator said she wanted to say something. She began telling the lady about the earthquake in Port and how those people literally did not have another day. The lady was very set in her ways and didn’t want to listen, but the people around us were listening. Two people around us decided to put their confidence in Christ and accept Jesus into their lives to take control of their hearts. It was incredible. That took a good 45 minutes for all of that to take place. It was awesome!
Then we went onto a second house which was a lot shorter. It took us only 10 minutes, but it was a great 10 minutes. This house had an old man who was practically crippled and his wife was cripple. She couldn’t even come outside to talk to us. He had already put his confidence in the Lord so we didn’t have much evangelizing we had to do, but we prayed over him for healing and help in his everyday life. We gave him a radio because since he is cripple, he can’t walk to church even though it’s really close. I loved being able to pray over him and I was fervently praying God would lift his spirits as well. He was very depressed. Understandably so, but I know the Lord can help him.
The last house we went to, we got to talk to about five different ladies. It was really neat because they all accepted Christ. Some already had Him, but wanted to rededicate their lives, while others it was their first time accepting Christ into their lives. The first lady we talked to at this house had the same response as the lady at the first house we talked to. This lady didn’t want Christ now, but later. I then began to talk about the earthquake (it seemed more effective because it was more personal for them) and how those people never knew that that day was their last. I asked her if she knew what was coming tomorrow. I asked her if she knew she had another tomorrow. She said she didn’t. She said she knows that she can’t know what tomorrow holds. Then my translator added some more stuff which I’m not exactly sure what it was all about, but in the end, this lady placed her confidence in Christ. At this point, many other Haitians had joined us. (The other four ladies we talked to were there at this point now.) So, this lady, knew that she wanted the Lord and others were saying they did too. But then, out of nowhere, she began to laugh. Uncontrollably. It was weird. I wasn’t sure whether she was laughing for joy or because she thought this was a joke. The translator began to question this lady’s authenticity on wanting to accept Christ. So the translator told her that God knows our heart and she can’t fool God. She finally composed herself after 5 minutes or so and she prayed to receive Christ. It was neat. And we all prayed afterwards that she would be authentic in the acceptance of Christ. We also talked to the other four ladies all whom had received Christ before and were wanting to let Him take control again..
Overall, it was an incredible experience at each house. I loved it and I had a great time. We are going again tomorrow to a different location, but doing the same thing. I feel a little more prepared now and more confident in what god is going to provide me with to say. I feel like I have to rely on God a lot more lately. It’s a great feeling not having to control your own life and mess it all up. When God is in control of your life and what you say, it makes it go so much smoother, not better all the time, but smoother.
Saturday, we went to the beach. I had a great time. I’m starting to feel like a part of this team. I played euchre with them a lit at the beach and we play like every chance we get. It’s so fun!
Today, we went to church and it was cool because it was kid’s Sunday so the kid’s sang for everyone. And it was really neat because the sermon was about kids as well. It was over Ephesians 6:1-9. Read it. I’d go into detail, but this post is getting a little long. After church, we went to lunch at a hotel. Very fancy. I had shishkabob which was amazing. Then, after lunch, we went and saw Kate Michel’s home from when she used to live here in Haiti. (Kate Michel lives in Columbus, IN, but she is from Whales the country over in the UK. She met her husband in Ireland but her husband was just there visiting. He’s actually a Haitian, so she lived in Haiti for 5 years I think with him.) We got to eat and drink coconuts straight from a tree in her yard. They were gross but everyone else seemed to like them.We got back and ate dinner then the team decided to debrief and I usually stay with them to debrief. They didn’t have much to talk about today so I asked if I could get a little 5 to 10 minute snip-it of everyone’s testimony. I thought that would be really neat. Apparently not, they all said no lol oh well. Instead they decided to go around and each person just said what was on their mind and how they were feeling about the trip which was great. I didn’t mind at all. But then, everyone was saying how much they miss home. I thought, “Great, they’re going to make me cry.” Sure enough, it came to be my turn and I said pass with tears in my eyes. I felt so stupid. The weird thing about it though was that they didn’t really seem to care that I was crying. Not that I needed the attention or even wanted it for that matter, but it was just weird they didn’t care. Anyways, what everyone else said was great! I loved hearing everything they had to say about what they were learning here. Most of them were just saying how grateful they are going to be when they get home and someone else said it puts a whole new meaning to the saying, “I’m so blessed.” God is really moving through their hearts and I love hearing people talk passionately about what the Lord is showing them and doing in their lives. The Lord does some amazing things! Sometimes, we just need our eyes opened and I think this trip has done that for this team. I’m glad they came.
Tomorrow we radio evangelize again. I’m really excited. Please be praying for us as we go out and for the people we will be talking to. I’m excited to see God at work through us and opening the people’s hearts. Pray that we can be a light for Christ and really be able to relate and reach them where they’re at. Thanks everyone for reading and keeping up with me. My computer keeps dying on me and my charger is broken so updating is becoming a bit more difficult. I’ll update twice a week from now on probably. Maybe more, but twice a week is a promise. I’m praying for you all at home. I miss you guys. All of you.