Colton's essay on personal faith

24 May 2012, 10:46 AM:

The bible is the constitution for a Christian it is our law and it guides us when we are lost. We should use the 10 commandments are our guidelines for life. We should also try to live like Jesus lived.
God has power over everything the word of God is the truth and we should trust it. God’s word is still powerful, it always will be
The Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity. The Trinity is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God.
Yes, we should share God’s word with others. It is the calling of all Christians.
We must share God’s word so that the lost can be found. I can show God’s love through my actions and by telling others about him.
Everyone who believes in God is the church. The church is alive; it is the people of God.
God called the church to exist so that we can shine a light. The church is everyone who believes in God.
God called the church to follow him and bring others to him. It calls and shows us how to bring other to him.
The church can be a place to come and worship with others and also to come in a time of need. The Church in the early times controlled the government now however; the church can still influence everyone.
The church should use its power and authority to help people make Godly decisions.

It is important to know God’s word because it can help us in times of need. I can read the Bible more.
To know Jesus is to believe that he died on the cross and rose again. Also to know that he is your friend. He asks for us to forget our old life and follow what he tells to do.
It means that you try to show God to others through your actions. We need to be filled with the spirit because without it we will have no motivation.

HEALED!!!

Sometimes our lives in Haiti are hard to describe in words.   Sometimes we see things that I really just need to process before writing about them.   Sometimes I can never bring myself to put things out there to the public.  For the past several weeks, I have been trying to figure out one particular event/or maybe process and how to think, feel and write about it.  I have been putting it off for reasons I can’t explain although I know people will want to celebrate this with us!

Its Suzette…

If you have followed our blog over the past year, you’ll know her story well.  If you haven’t please access  my previous posts from the archives about her so you can fully understand this situation.  Beginning with “Canaan” from Dec 31, 2010, “Suffering Can be good” June 5, 2011, “Suzette” Sept 10, 2011, and “Suzette” Sept 27, 2011.

The very first day I sat on the floor of Suzette’s shelter listening to her story these words stayed with me; “I know God wants heal me”.  For me, one of very little faith, these words didn’t stick with me because I expected it to actually happen, but they stayed with me because it was the beginning of Suzette’s lesson for me of what true faith really is.  I believed God could heal her, but seeing how He used her in her suffering, I didn’t really know if God wanted to heal her here on earth.  Looking back now, I see how little faith I had and how much faith she had.   

My last two trips to see Suzette have been completely different than any before.  I hadn’t been to see Suzette for two months, the longest stretch without a visit.  When I arrived with a group of People in April, she welcomed us standing in her front yard.  Me:  clueless.  We then proceeded into the house where Suzette normally asked someone to help get each of us a chair, this time she was getting us chairs.  Me: still clueless.  Next, I noticed the mat she normally laid on the floor was missing.  Me:  starting to finally put things together.  I asked Suzette, “where is your mat?”   She replied with “it’s gone, I sleep in the bed now.  Me, feeling a bit confused at this point, but starting to put all these clues together asked her how she was feeling. 

     Suzette looked at me with a slight grin and explained that her pain and bleeding were gone and she could no longer feel the tumor that had been growing in her.  For three weeks, she had been SYMPTOM FREE.  She explained that she didn’t know if she was completely healed, but she was symptom free.  After picking my jaw up off the floor, I tried to speak, but could only weep.  As I’m trying to pull myself together to just acknowledge God’s faithfulness and give Him praise, something about Suzette struck me; she wasn’t surprised.  She wasn’t surprised at all.  She knew it all along and had patiently waited with anticipation.   I was ashamed of getting to a point after praying with her for almost a year and a half where I didn’t expect.  I didn’t anticipate. 

A quiet whisper spoke into me before going there that day that said “what if we show up and Suzette is better” but I brushed it aside thinking it was just my wishful thinking. But I still didn’t anticipate.  I was also humbled to the ground that God would allow me to be part of something so significant.  Not that he needed me, but that He allowed me to experience it.

Just two weeks later, while running a clinic I looked up out the door of the building to see Suzette walking up the road by the church.  Before that, part of me wondered if the symptoms would return.  I wondered if the healing would only be temporary.  Seeing Suzette that day confirmed healing still.  She was energized, practically jogging up the road.

Another week went by and Suzette’s daughter came to clinic to be seen and asked if we planned to visit her mom, she wasn’t doing well.  She had pain and bleeding again.  All my fears, questions, unbelief came rushing back. Satan used that moment to enhance my doubt.  When we arrived at Suzette’s this time, I expected to see the scene I had been part of for so many months…Suzette lying on her mat in great pain and suffering.  Instead, what I saw was the same scene as the previous visit.  It turns out Suzette had been working in her garden the day before, WORKING IN HER GARDEN and experienced some pain, but it wasn’t the pain she had with the cancer.  For a woman in her 50’s who went from laying on a mat all day everyday to working in her garden, who wouldn’t have some pain????

Suzette proceeded to share with me her most recent dream from just the night before (those of you who have been here know Suzette has dreams often that have messages from God, very significant ones).  Someone in the dream told her to ask Madame Jeff (that would be me, because in Haiti, I don’t have my own name…Jeff thinks this is pretty funny) to give two injections to heal her wound.  It turns out I have no injections what so ever to give her, but I sensed strongly that God wanted me to pray for complete healing for Suzette.  We gathered around Suzette and laid hands on her and prayed.  We prayed for more miracles in Suzette.  We prayed for God’s medicine because we didn’t have the medicine she needed.  Now looking back, there are other times I wish we didn’t have the right medicine for people so we would rely more on the Holy Spirit for results.  For that time and place, it was that simple.   No doubts.  No hesitation.  Only faith and expectancy.    

As I wrote in one of my previous posts, “if God heals Suzette of her cancer, God is God and God is good.  If God doesn’t heal Suzette of her cancer, God is still God and God is still good.  To God be the glory!”

Today I can say, “God healed Suzette, God is God and God is Good!  To God be the glory!”

Thank you to so many who have prayed unceasingly for Suzette both here in Haiti and from your own homes! 

What if

What if I ...

                     

·         was 23 years old

·         Living in a third world country with my aunt and uncle because both of my parents died

·         wasn't going to school

·         didn't have a job

·         relied on others for my well-being, just as a child does their parents

·         That aunt and uncle had nothing

·         lived in a home where adults smothered me with protection because they were afraid of the decisions I would make

·         lived in a culture where Christians can be very judgemental of someone else's circumstances

·         lived in a culture where shame is used to try to teach one a lesson

·         lived in a society where it is easy for a young lady to be taken advantage of

What if I lived in this world and what if I...

....became pregnant?



what would I do?

who would I trust?

what if this were me?

what if this were one of my daughters?



but...

In some ways, is this really that different from things in the developed world?

how many girls are taken advantage of in the developed world?

how many parents/guardians smother their children so much that the child wants nothing to do with them?

how many mothers are left trying to figure out how to raise a child with nothing?

how many Christians judge others for mistakes made?



here though...

there's no child welfare system

there's no food stamps

there's no coupons

no WIC program



Here there's Family, community, and God.   

So who can she trust?  The answer is simple.  There is only one answer.  There is only one who is trustworthy.  I wonder if she knows him. I wonder if she’ll turn to him now.  I wonder if I’ll get a second chance to tell her about him.



This is the story of a young girl who came into our clinic on Wednesday. We don't know what her future holds. We don't even know if we'll see her again in the clinic. We can only hope and pray that she makes good decisions now in caring for herself and her baby and that we’ll get a second chance.

~Deb

computer class

When I was asked in November by a team member whose family owns an office supply store if there was anything we needed, I replied, "well we've started this computer class with our kids homes so there may be some things needed for that at some point. 
When another member of the same family planned to come to Haiti this month, they again asked, "is there anything you need, can you use some more laptops?"  I humbly said we could use a few more so we can teach a few more kids computer skills.  Never did I imagine what this family had in mind was something so much more!
14 new laptops were sent down for our ministry!  I can't begin to express how much of a blessing this is!  We now can teach all the upper middle school and high school girls together instead of in 3 groups and because I will be spending that much less time teaching, I will be able to add a class for the younger girls to start this summer!  AND...we will have enough computers to begin a computer lab at the school in Canaan next fall!!!!
We are so excited about the addition of this ministry!  Thank you for such a meaningful donation!

Building a Kindergarten!!!

check out the new project in Canaan!
http://awakenhaitiawarenessactionhope.blogspot.com/2012/04/building-kindergarten.html

Lead me to the Cross -- The Passion of the Christ

Happy Easter and Resurrection Day to all of our family and friends!!!  We love you and miss you!

Innovation at it's best!

I should really carry a camera at all times while driving the streets of Haiti, you never know what you will see.  Last Wednesday morning driving to Canaan proved that not only should I have the camera in the front seat with me, but have it out and ready.  Wish I had. 
The night before it had rained for several hours.  Not the kind of steady rain we see in Pennyslvania, but downpour for hours for about the 3rd night in a row.  What does this mean?  It means the main intersection on the way to Canaan is full of water.  While there are many reasons rain like this is frustrating and bittersweet, on this particular day it provided a bit of entertainment for those of us who laugh easily.  Like when people fall, you all know who you are, I'm one of them.  No one fell on this particular day (at least that I saw), but the picture of this young man is still very vivid in my mind.  Just the way someone falling would be.  I have a snap shot that I can replay over and over, but unfortunately can't share with others. 
We often refer to Haitians as very innovative people.  People who just are used to fending for themselves because the government doesn't.  People who are resilient because they have to be. 
So on this particular morning amidst the hussle and bussle of the busy intersection/gas station/tap-tap station, one young man found a way to be just that...innovative in earning money for the day.  This creative dude in cutoff capris and beat up flip flops was making money by carrying people on his back across the water/mud covered sidewalk.
 People traveling to work or school dressed for their occasion, not for what they would find in trying to get a tap-tap.  The only way was across the 10ft section of sidewalk and road  was taken over by the muck that ran down the hill and settled there. 
As we sat through 2 or 3 red lights, we watched women and men alike hop on the guy's back(similar to what you would see Brooke do when her little legs get tired on a walk), get carried the mucky 10ft distance, set down, reach in their pocket for a coin, hand it over, then continue on their journey.  Back and forth he went. He must have made 40 gourdes just in the time we looked on.  Wonder how much he made before the water finally settled enough to drain off...
Wish I had my camera ready, next time I will.