Haiti: Part 5
Day 5
The fifth day in Haiti may have been my favorite day. It was a good day. I'm telling you people─it was a really good day.
I guess you could say that this was the first day I finally felt like─well, like myself. Maybe this was because I had finally caught up on sleep. Maybe my body had finally adjusted to the heat. While both of these points should be taken into account, I think the biggest contributing factor for this drastic change was my mindset.
At this point I'd been in Haiti long enough to see how things were run at UCI. And I had noticed one common theme: intentionality. Everything was done with a purpose─with intention.
They were living to build the kingdom. They purposefully sought after Christ, this much was evident through their actions. They prayed before everything. And when I say everything, I mean it. I'm not just talking meals or bedtime prayers.
Before volleyball practice, they would pray. When choir practice was over, they would pray. After meeting with the UCI board members, they asked to pray for us!
After supper (Haitian pizza!) we gathered to meet with the men. They started by introducing themselves and then each explained their role on the UCI team. (All of which was translated.)
Up until hearing from the men, I hadn't really understood the complexity involved with running the entire organization. It's not just something you could even try to throw together─they've thought through the details and have assigned positions that together, bring the whole vision of UCI together.
One man oversees all the construction (say pouring a cement floor, for example). Another supervises the university. Others help neighboring farmers and train Haitians with varying skills.
And then there was one man─a sweet little old man with a genuine smile─who would walk to UCI every morning to pray. (Noticing how prayer is so prevalent?)
At first it might not seem like such a big commitment. For several weeks this past winter I would get up in the morning to pray at church, too. (Just to be clear, this wasn't a self-motivated decision. I either showed up, or I was kicked out of Bible study. Okay─they probably wouldn't have kicked me out, considering it was a group of three, but it was still a good way to hold one another accountable.)
So it didn't seem like that big of a deal─for about three seconds─but then he explained a little more.
While I drove my car to the church, he walked.
While I arrived at 7am, he arrived at 6. (Maybe I'm the only one who thinks this is early. Nope, that would be an understatement. Everyone knows this is early.) And I'm not saying he woke up at 6, he ARRIVED at 6. I don't know how far away he lived or the time it took to walk, but props to him no matter the distance.
I'll be honest, my commitment to pray at the church wasn't very time consuming because we only met once a week, but this guy would walk (and still does) to the campus every single day.
We were told later by another member of the staff (who happens to be a certified nurse) that this guy would have qualified for a double knee replacement surgery years ago.
Yet he keeps walking. Every day he comes to the campus to pray because he has witnessed the power of prayer and trusts that God will continue to answer those prayers. I don't know about you, but I think that's pretty cool.
Haiti: Part 3
Haiti: Part 4
Haiti: Part 6
Haiti: Part 7
The fifth day in Haiti may have been my favorite day. It was a good day. I'm telling you people─it was a really good day.
I guess you could say that this was the first day I finally felt like─well, like myself. Maybe this was because I had finally caught up on sleep. Maybe my body had finally adjusted to the heat. While both of these points should be taken into account, I think the biggest contributing factor for this drastic change was my mindset.
At this point I'd been in Haiti long enough to see how things were run at UCI. And I had noticed one common theme: intentionality. Everything was done with a purpose─with intention.
All that was done, was done to bring glory to the name of Christ.
They were living to build the kingdom. They purposefully sought after Christ, this much was evident through their actions. They prayed before everything. And when I say everything, I mean it. I'm not just talking meals or bedtime prayers.
Before volleyball practice, they would pray. When choir practice was over, they would pray. After meeting with the UCI board members, they asked to pray for us!
After supper (Haitian pizza!) we gathered to meet with the men. They started by introducing themselves and then each explained their role on the UCI team. (All of which was translated.)
Up until hearing from the men, I hadn't really understood the complexity involved with running the entire organization. It's not just something you could even try to throw together─they've thought through the details and have assigned positions that together, bring the whole vision of UCI together.
One man oversees all the construction (say pouring a cement floor, for example). Another supervises the university. Others help neighboring farmers and train Haitians with varying skills.
And then there was one man─a sweet little old man with a genuine smile─who would walk to UCI every morning to pray. (Noticing how prayer is so prevalent?)
At first it might not seem like such a big commitment. For several weeks this past winter I would get up in the morning to pray at church, too. (Just to be clear, this wasn't a self-motivated decision. I either showed up, or I was kicked out of Bible study. Okay─they probably wouldn't have kicked me out, considering it was a group of three, but it was still a good way to hold one another accountable.)
So it didn't seem like that big of a deal─for about three seconds─but then he explained a little more.
While I drove my car to the church, he walked.
While I arrived at 7am, he arrived at 6. (Maybe I'm the only one who thinks this is early. Nope, that would be an understatement. Everyone knows this is early.) And I'm not saying he woke up at 6, he ARRIVED at 6. I don't know how far away he lived or the time it took to walk, but props to him no matter the distance.
I'll be honest, my commitment to pray at the church wasn't very time consuming because we only met once a week, but this guy would walk (and still does) to the campus every single day.
We were told later by another member of the staff (who happens to be a certified nurse) that this guy would have qualified for a double knee replacement surgery years ago.
Yet he keeps walking. Every day he comes to the campus to pray because he has witnessed the power of prayer and trusts that God will continue to answer those prayers. I don't know about you, but I think that's pretty cool.
[Interested in reading more? Check out the Blog Archive to the right to find links to my other posts.]
Haiti: Part 2Haiti: Part 3
Haiti: Part 4
Haiti: Part 6
Haiti: Part 7
Comments
Post a Comment