The Best Is Yet To Come..

     So, today I "learned" how to de-scale a gutted Wahoo with a dull knife. Needless to say, my shoes will forever smell like fish...but the smiles on my friends' faces will outlast a pair of $10 Walmart shoes anyway, so I'd do it again. Life in the fishing village is simple; everyone knows everyone (including the skeletons in their closets!) and they just live life, one moment at a time. There is always struggle, but some challenges weigh heavier on the heart than others. The feeding program ended today, leaving most of the women in the village without work. As nearly all of them are single mothers of many, trying to simply survive, lack of work in Haiti makes "unemployment" checks in America look like a dream well-lived. The one-room houses they've depended on all year will soon be given up, as rent is due this month. Yet these are just 12 women in a small village whose stories I happen to know.
     There is much brokenness in Haiti; Just today, I passed 4 who roam the streets as "those without a mind." Living as outcasts, intentionally ignored, you can find them sifting through the trash dump next door or talking to themselves as they sit in the sun, dressed for a Missouri winter. A life of solitude, just waiting to die. In just one short week, I've brought medicine to my friend's sick grandma, learned of another friend's little brother who had malaria, another friend has a sick mother and a sister on an IV, and heard of 2 fatal car/moto accidents. There is so much hurt here.
     But hope remains. As I hopped a moto to the fishing village this morning, I saw hundreds of school children flooding the streets of Montrouis with medical gloves on their hands. Realizing I was the only one who found it odd, I asked my driver why they weren't in class today (a field trip to the market isn't exactly a norm here!). He explained that, once a year, all the schools send the youth out to "beautify" the streets. Working with pride, I watched as Montrouis became hopeful, one piece of trash at a time. It was beautiful. Not because I could see the sidewalk, or because I kept my fishy shoes dry on the walk back....no, it was beautiful, because I saw Haiti help Haiti, and it had absolutely nothing to do with me. God just empowered the people I love so much and then allowed me to watch in humility. No matter how much hurt and brokenness is in this world, Hope can always be found. Today, it found me.

Would you thank God?
     *for the hope that envelops this nation; may it be deeply rooted in Truth.
     *for the youth of this nation, to be empowered to greater things, for a higher purpose.
Would you surrender to the Lord?
     *the hurt that has scarred many who live in the community of Montrouis. That they would be washed with Agape Love and the hope of Christ's coming.
     *the sickness that has touched many whom I love, and even more I've yet to know. We serve a Healer, let's come before Him, friends.

THANK YOU 

for your continued partnership and investment in what God's doing here in Montrouis! Be the body, be the Church....exactly where He's called you. I'm praying for you too!