These first few months of being staff with YWAM St. Marc, Haiti have been exciting, eventful, and crazy! In December we had some vacation time to rest and get ready for the New Year and as soon as January came life has been, well…busy!
We had a GREAT staff conference, which was a serious blessing to be a part of. We learned about being our size, so some of us need to step out in confidence and some of us need to step back and not necessarily take on every single thing. Learn when to say yes and when to say no. Personally, I needed to step out in boldness in a lot of areas of my life. I need to speak when the Lord puts something on my heart, I need to be challenged in the places I am too comfortable. Those can be scary steps to take, but God promises He will work it all out, so I hold onto that. He has never once failed me, and I can take comfort in knowing He won’t ever.
Over the course of this year I have learned that God hears my prayers; that sounds so obvious, but there have been times in my life where I have prayed and in my heart I didn’t truly believe God was listening. Well, He is always listening and even more than that, He cares about each one. So, when I prayed ‘I surrender to you, Lord. I’ll go where you send me’ He heard that too. You will read in the next paragraph where I am now…after praying that prayer!
So, the title of this update has the word ‘decisions’ in it. This is because in the middle of December I was asked to work in Housekeeping on the base and I had to decide what to do. Now, really….that would probably be the last department I would want to work in. So, naturally I wasn’t jumping up and down at the thought. It isn’t about me though, it is about God and bringing Him glory, and so I went right to Him and asked what I should do.
I now work in housekeeping on the base.
And…..I do really love it! Well, I mean most of the time. Nothing is perfect, but I get to talk to God while I’m sweeping, how awesome is that!
I am also staffing a school we have on the base called ‘Foundations in Christian Character’ (FCC). There are 6 of us on staff and 9 students! I love this school and other discipleship schools because my heart is to disciple and see people come to know who they really are in Christ. In class we are starting at the foundation and learning how to live a life worthy of the calling God has called us to. It is just so exciting and the students are so hungry to learn and grow. I myself am constantly being challenged to rise up in boldness, to give grace and to love people with an unconditional Jesus kind of love.
The ‘teams’ part of the title is because we have had the pleasure of having 4 teams come to stay on the base so far! Teams come and sacrifice their time and love on the Haitian people and I am so grateful for their hearts! I love hearing their testimonies and I just LOVE hearing from people who are here for the first time. Haiti has a way of capturing your heart and it’s such a joy to see people’s excitement when they walk on the base after a day of ministering. There was one girl who shared on Wednesday night at our church service and as she was talking she started to cry. I could just see the way being here had changed her. In moments like that I am so reminded of how good God is and how he is using Haiti to be such a blessing.
The ‘rice and beans’ part is because…well, I live in Haiti now and that is what we eat. When I sit down at dinner with my family here and we talk about our day you can almost always bet it will be over a plate of rice and beans. I guess you could say rice and beans bring us together. :)
I realized something yesterday when I was talking with some friends. I realized that even though sometimes life is hard, even in the moments when it seems too hard to handle I am still growing. I am still falling more in love with Jesus, I am still pursuing Him. I am learning and I am growing in His truth. This alone shows me I am where I am supposed to be. I haven’t given up, or stopped trusting Him. A few years ago I probably would have given up, but I haven’t. This is because of Jesus. He carries me, He protects me and when I mess up, He showers me with grace.
I realize how thankful I am for this life.
One thing that has stuck with me lately is this verse; ‘Be imitators of God, therefore as dearly loved children and live a life of love’. ~Eph 5: 1-2
We had a GREAT staff conference, which was a serious blessing to be a part of. We learned about being our size, so some of us need to step out in confidence and some of us need to step back and not necessarily take on every single thing. Learn when to say yes and when to say no. Personally, I needed to step out in boldness in a lot of areas of my life. I need to speak when the Lord puts something on my heart, I need to be challenged in the places I am too comfortable. Those can be scary steps to take, but God promises He will work it all out, so I hold onto that. He has never once failed me, and I can take comfort in knowing He won’t ever.
Over the course of this year I have learned that God hears my prayers; that sounds so obvious, but there have been times in my life where I have prayed and in my heart I didn’t truly believe God was listening. Well, He is always listening and even more than that, He cares about each one. So, when I prayed ‘I surrender to you, Lord. I’ll go where you send me’ He heard that too. You will read in the next paragraph where I am now…after praying that prayer!
So, the title of this update has the word ‘decisions’ in it. This is because in the middle of December I was asked to work in Housekeeping on the base and I had to decide what to do. Now, really….that would probably be the last department I would want to work in. So, naturally I wasn’t jumping up and down at the thought. It isn’t about me though, it is about God and bringing Him glory, and so I went right to Him and asked what I should do.
I now work in housekeeping on the base.
And…..I do really love it! Well, I mean most of the time. Nothing is perfect, but I get to talk to God while I’m sweeping, how awesome is that!
I am also staffing a school we have on the base called ‘Foundations in Christian Character’ (FCC). There are 6 of us on staff and 9 students! I love this school and other discipleship schools because my heart is to disciple and see people come to know who they really are in Christ. In class we are starting at the foundation and learning how to live a life worthy of the calling God has called us to. It is just so exciting and the students are so hungry to learn and grow. I myself am constantly being challenged to rise up in boldness, to give grace and to love people with an unconditional Jesus kind of love.
The ‘teams’ part of the title is because we have had the pleasure of having 4 teams come to stay on the base so far! Teams come and sacrifice their time and love on the Haitian people and I am so grateful for their hearts! I love hearing their testimonies and I just LOVE hearing from people who are here for the first time. Haiti has a way of capturing your heart and it’s such a joy to see people’s excitement when they walk on the base after a day of ministering. There was one girl who shared on Wednesday night at our church service and as she was talking she started to cry. I could just see the way being here had changed her. In moments like that I am so reminded of how good God is and how he is using Haiti to be such a blessing.
The ‘rice and beans’ part is because…well, I live in Haiti now and that is what we eat. When I sit down at dinner with my family here and we talk about our day you can almost always bet it will be over a plate of rice and beans. I guess you could say rice and beans bring us together. :)
I realized something yesterday when I was talking with some friends. I realized that even though sometimes life is hard, even in the moments when it seems too hard to handle I am still growing. I am still falling more in love with Jesus, I am still pursuing Him. I am learning and I am growing in His truth. This alone shows me I am where I am supposed to be. I haven’t given up, or stopped trusting Him. A few years ago I probably would have given up, but I haven’t. This is because of Jesus. He carries me, He protects me and when I mess up, He showers me with grace.
I realize how thankful I am for this life.
One thing that has stuck with me lately is this verse; ‘Be imitators of God, therefore as dearly loved children and live a life of love’. ~Eph 5: 1-2