mekredi

Well, hello there.
Let's just get really honest here.  I love it here, but I don't want to lead you all into believing that every single thing is perfect.  So it's about to get real.  The last few days have been really rough.  There are five interns right now, and we're just very different.  We all have conflicting views about ministry and every detail of how things should get done.  We get along all right when we are just hanging out, but we break into a fight pretty much as soon as we get to the field or talk about it.  To be even more honest, I have had my first, my second, and my third crying session of Haiti in the past couple of days.  It's just really hard not getting along and struggling to make sure that we just do what's best for the kids.  So just pray that the team will be unified and that after all this mess is cleared away, we will have still shown the love of Jesus to the people we meet in this country.
Yesterday we went to FPCH to do our bible lesson of the week.  It was about hope.  The children decorated crosses.  Also, when we went to Tree of Life this week, they had all proudly hung up their suns from last week.  ADORABLE.  I'm thinking about what it would look like to spend the night at FPCH one of these days.  It was Ali's idea.  It would definitely be roughing it more than usual, though I don't mind.  Mostly, I'm just not sure I would want to be alone there, since I don't really speak a lot of Creole yet.  Today we went to Williamson to continue surveying the communities.  After about three more families, the survey started to feel unnecessary.  Yes, they're hungry.  Yes, they need water.  They probably lost their job.  At least one person in the house is sick.  Their garden is all dead because Williamson didn't get enough water this year.  Hearing the same things over and over is really hard.  It was good for building relationships, though, and I really appreciated the opportunity to pray for these families.  I hope that WWV will have the opportunity to help the community.  Who knows, though?

Anyway, FINALLY someone listened to me and asked some questions to give me some ideas about what you would like to hear about.  Thank you very much, Anna Beth.


'Ello luv! I was wondering, what is your absolute favorite thing about Haiti? Also, do you feel like Haiti is a place God could be calling you to work in the future, after graduation? Why Haiti? Is there anything in Haiti that you think is better than the way it is in America? What's your next craft going to be? At what point did you realize you were called to be a missions major?


So, let's take these questions one at a time.
What is your favorite thing about Haiti?
My favorite thing - that's a hard one.  It's probably the outsideness of the culture.  Everything happens outside.  It's true that it includes things I don't want to see, like guys peeing and burning trash.  But people cook outside, people hang out outside, people sing and dance and party outside, people walk most of the time.  In America, if you drive down the street, you might see one guy walking his dog and two kids playing outside, but mostly you see cars and houses.  In Haiti, you see people, people, and more people, doing anything you can imagine.  It's good stuff.
Do I feel like Haiti is a place God could be calling you to work in the future, after graduation?
Well, SOMEBODY hasn't read my blog in full, as this is a subject that I touch on often.  It's possible.  I really don't know.  I'm definitely not opposed to the idea, but sometimes I wonder if it's really where God would want me to spend my whole life.  There are enough serious Haitian Christians to evangelize the rest of the country, if you know what I'm saying.  Sometimes I think about what it would be like to go to an unreached people group.  Also, I know that I would be able to be understand culture better if I stayed and ministered to people in America.  All I can do is seek God and trust that He will eventually reveal the next step of my life.  I am pretty sure about what I'm doing until May 2013, so I'm all right.
Why Haiti?
After I became a missions major, it was really frustrating not to be called to a particular country.  People always wanted to know where I would go, but I was equally excited about going to any country in the whole world!  I didn't know how I would ever figure it out.  I prayed about, but I eventually stopped trying so hard to figure it out.  And suddenly, I just wanted to know more about Haiti.  I was looking up things about Haiti during my spare time and just wanting to know more and more about the country.  Before, I wanted to go anywhere!  And still, I am willing to anywhere.  But more and more it became that I just wanted to come here.  I would do anything to get here.  And I did!  Look what God can do! =]
Is there anything in Haiti that you think is better than the way it is in America?
First of all (and this isn't meant to bash you in any way), comparing cultures in that way is generally negative. To be clear, all cultures have their sin and all cultures have their merits.  Jesus is not in any culture more than any other culture, except for the culture of the kingdom of God, which is the one that we are called to be citizens of.  I don't think you meant it like that, but it's just one of those things for me.  It really bothers me when people come here short term and "realize" that American culture is just so evil because it's greedy and materialistic and whatever.  You know, they have less here, but people are still greedy, because people are sinful.  Not all people here are greedy, but neither are all Americans.  Am I making sense here?  I think that you were moreso looking for superficial things though, and I will be happy to tell you some of those.  I love the fresh fruit here - mangoes, pineapples, watermelon.  I feel like we don't really get a lot of fresh fruit in America, especially not straight off the tree and into my mouth!  Like I said, I like that things are outside.  That's all I can think of for this question.  Really, things are just different, not better or worse.  I like the crazy fun that is driving in Haiti, but I also like the much better safety of driving in America.  I like the landscape better here, but I like the weather better in California.  It's all like that.  That was probably a longer answer than you wanted.  Haha.
What is your next craft?
My next craft is going to be something with hearts.  I think we are going to try to make heart bracelets, but I have to check the craft closet and also do some hardcore pinterest research.  Even when living here, I still procrastinate.  That craft won't be until Tuesday though.  We will be doing the cross craft again on Tuesday.
At what point did you realize that you were called to be a missions major?
Well, I knew that I wanted to go to a Christian college so that I could grow and learn more about God and experience good Christian community (success!).  I knew that I wanted to give my entire life to God, not just Sundays and 10% of my income from whatever job I can find.  So, at first, I wanted to be a youth minister.  I thought a lot about why I wanted to do it though.  You know how so many kids want to be teachers, but most of them don't end up being teachers?  My theory is that their desire to be a teacher comes from the fact that the most influential person in their life is a teacher.  The person who they see doing good in the world is their teacher (if they had a good experience).  I think that this is why I thought a lot about being a youth minister.  The people who made the biggest impact on my life on that time were Michael and Emily Romans. So I wanted to be like them so that I could make a difference too.  After I realized that that was why, I kept thinking about what I wanted to do with my life.  I read the Bible and just saw God's heart for all the nations (If you need some specific examples, I would be happy to provide those.)  I didn't know what I was going to do with my life, and you know that I still don't really know.  However, I wanted to be able to do ministry to all cultures, and now I am very well-informed about that sort of thing (though missionaries are lifelong learners!).  If I could go back to freshman year, I would definitely not change my major.  Even if I end up doing some other kind of ministry or opening a business so that I can provide jobs to those in need, I will be grateful for Asbury and all my missions courses.  I have learned so much in the past two years, from so many experiences in ministry and in the classroom.  I wouldn't trade my education for anything.