This summer I had the opportunity to spend a week in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, with a team from YWAM Emerge. This was one of the most powerful experiences of my life, and God used it teach me so many things; everything from learning how to work within a team, to being able to communicate with someone who speaks a different language, to giving me glimpse of His own heart for the people of that country.
Our team flew down on August 2nd and stayed with the pastor of a local church through the 9th. We spent the first few days helping the church with various rebuilding projects. For most of us this included clearing rubble from some of the demolition they’ve had to do and repainting areas that had already been patched. We were also blessed to have an experienced electrician on our team who worked on rewiring parts of the church. The church was very generous in feeding us amazing lunches all of the days we worked there.
On the 4th day we were down there, we visited an orphanage that is run by a Haitian gentleman who is also starting a YWAM base in the Port-au-Prince area. Seeing the children and hearing their stories was both beautiful and heartbreaking. Several of the children were orphaned during the earthquake. One of the little boys had to have his leg amputated while being freed from the rubble. There were several children who had disabilities or other physical problems that could easily be treated in the States but not in Haiti right now. Despite all of this, most of the children have cheerful attitudes and huge smiles that they love to share.
On the 5th day we were there we spent the day at a local beach. It was a day of relaxing and rest, but also an opportunity to see more of the Haitian culture and spend time getting to know our translators a little better. The last full day we were there was Sunday so we spent most of our time at the church. The morning service started at 6:30 and lasted almost 4 hours. It was an amazing service. To see the energy and life in that church was a huge encouragement to me. Part of the reason that it was such a long service was because they had a guest speaker in addition to the regular sermon. We were served lunch at the church, same as the days we worked there, and had a little down time in the afternoon. Later, our team participated in the evening service. Each of us shared a few sentences about our trip, our entire team performed the song “Lord I Lift Your Name on High”, and some of us signed it as well. Our team leader, Nick Schreifels, wrapped it up by sharing an encouraging message.
All in all, I couldn’t have asked for a better week and I am so thankful that God opened the door for me to go, as it has changed the way I look at life back here in the States. I encourage all of you to seek after God and be open to whatever His will is for your life. I guarantee that it will change you and you won’t be sorry for it.
~ Sarah
Team building at Garden of the Gods before leaving for Haiti.
Mary and Nick Schreifels, our team leaders, are on the far left.
Roof of the church we were working at.
View from the roof of the church.
Library at the church.
At the orphanage.
No comments:
Post a Comment