"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man
the things which God has prepared for those who love Him."
1 Corinthians 2:9
It is good to be home, and I want to thank each of you that prayed for me while I was in Haiti. It is such a unique place, and God worked so incredibly in the nightly crusades and the daily VBS classes. We were in the more mountainous plateau areas of the country, and it was a privilege to minister among these precious people. We had over 800 in classes each day and over 1,200 at night for the crusade type services. During the week there were a recorded 135 people that came to know Jesus Christ as their Savior. We rejoice with the angels in heaven over these lives that have been transformed for the glory of God. Words cannot begin to describe all that God has done in my heart over the last week, but I am thankful that the Spirit of God still moves so strongly among His people.
The area in which we were would be classified as very rural. One church that we went to was about a two hour hike one way from the main road. These people lived in conditions that were beyond what we think of as poverty. They make the best with what they have, but what they have is not much. At the main mission where we held all the services, the people came there to stay and sleep in whatever shelter they could find for the whole week. They were given two meals a day which is more than most of them eat on a regular basis. My children wake up wondering what they are going to have for supper that night. These children and adults wake up wondering if they are going to eat that day.
I could go on and on in describing their poverty, but that would leave you with the sense that these are desperate and discouraged people. The truth is far from that. While they may have nothing of physical worth, they are truly the richest people that I have ever known. They are rich in faith, because they wholeheartedly serve Jesus Christ and claim Him as their own. Their worship and prayer is as genuine as one can fathom. They lay their hearts open before God with absolutely nothing held back. It is so refreshing to be in such an atmosphere.
I had the privilege of teaching different age groups each day through an interpreter. One particular day I had the 11-14 year olds. During my lesson I spoke of Heaven and what a thrill it is to know that God is preparing a place for us. During the question and answer time I asked them what they thought would be there. The first answer was that there would be no hell. I thought maybe they didn't understand the question so I asked it a different way. The answers then begin to come: Jesus, love, joy, peace, etc. Not one of those young people mentioned a tangible thing as we often do when describing heaven. We always speak of streets of gold, mansions, and other physical things. These people have no thought of the physical things to cloud their view of the spiritual. I discussed this with Pastor Turner who is the American missionary that heads up the mission. (I will tell you more about him later.) With tears in both of our eyes we spoke of looking forward to the day that we could watch some of these Haitian people enter into the presence of God in glory. To see the joy on their faces as they stand in awe of what God has prepared for them will truly be an amazing moment.
May you live with your only desire being Jesus!
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