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Under the Haitian Sky, God Multiplied Our Hearts
Joplin, Missouri
When God sent the "Proctor and Company Hearts to Haiti" team to Fonds-Parisien this month, He taught us a lesson in math. Our team included 4 moms, a couple of nurses and preachers, and a lot of kids. But with God's loaves-and-fishes style of multiplication, many blessings came out of our trip:
10 benches built for churches
9 teenagers on their first cross-culture trip
8 days of getting to know the HCM staff and Haitian friends
7 nights of team discussion under the stars
6 skills used (teachers, organizers, musicians, nurses, athletes, child lovers)
5 children's events (skits, lesson, crafts, snacks, memory verses, songs)
4 village food distributions (hundreds of pounds of rice, spaghetti, and oil)
3 teen events (sermons, drama, music, gifts, sports)
2 women's events (lessons, music, gifts)
1 baptism at the beach
When Dr. Cheryl Fogarty removed cancer from my body two years ago, God used her to extend my life. When she helped me organize a trip to Haiti, God used her to extend my love. I went into the trip knowing I needed flexibility, but not realizing I needed math.
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What began as a dream to take my
daughters to simply observe Dr.
Fogarty on a medical missions trip
metamorphosed into the task of me
leading a group of 19 people on a
service and teaching trip to a country
we'd never visited. Every question I
asked (and I asked a lot!!) led to another
question and another day of preparation.
Not knowing what all the preparations
would become, I watched as every goal
I set was multiplied by God into
something bigger. I hoped to take 20
children's illustrated Creole Bibles, and
we ended up with 100. I started with 3
Creole New Testaments, but we delivered
100 of those too.
I thought we could raise a few hundred
dollars for rice to give away, but we
purchased $2000 worth. I wanted to take
some crocs to give away, and we took
almost 400 pairs. I prepared to teach 600
children one lesson while we were there,
and God multiplied that into 1200 kids, 400
adults, and 200 teens with 7 different lessons.
From start to finish, God's math was
always bigger than ours!!
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Some people say numbers don't matter. But when numbers are people, they do matter. And the people brought out a range of emotions in us. We alternated between being:
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During our eight days in Haiti, we distributed the donations we had brought with us, everything from school supplies to athletic equipment. We got to give mirrors to teenage girls and talk to them about how God sees them. We gave household and hospitality supplies to preachers' wives and talked to them about ministering to other women. We acted out a David and Goliath VBS skit with costumes, taught children to paint with watercolors, passed out hundreds of cookies and candy, and played our instruments for worship. We built benches and packaged hundreds of bags of rice and gave gifts to ministry employees. We wrote impromptu sermons and Bible dramas for a two-night youth revival. We led games, taught motions for memory verses in Creole, and presented Bibles to schools. We volunteered in the clinics, coached basketball skills, and led children's church. And we spent time praying for the people we met.
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 But as with every mission trip, we learned much more than we taught, and we received far more than we gave. If we're counting in this math lesson, it should be counting our blessings! We were especially blessed to just be with and learn from the people of Haiti. Watching the incredible work of Miss Betty, Dr. Maxene, Thonny, Miss Carole's kitchen ladies, and many others provided wonderful lessons in leadership and sacrificial service. Listening to every word Pastor Prophete spoke gave us an education about the history of Haiti and HCM. Talking with our translators Annie, Feguens, and Pastor Cerant about their villages and families and personal experiences opened our eyes to the everyday realities of the working-class Haitians.
And visiting the nearby orphanages and preschool filled our hearts with the play and laughter and hugs of children which transcend language barriers to remind us that Jesus says,
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"Let the little children come to me."
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In many ways, Haiti is a broken nation. It is a land of incredible natural beauty imprisoned by dirty water and government corruption, a country of beautiful people without employment opportunities. The needs seem to be insurmountable, the people in poverty as numerous as the stars in the beautiful Haitian sky. The pain and the destitution overwhelmed us as visitors and turned the ordinarily sad mission trip "goodbye" into a heart-wrenching experience as we returned to a land of wealth and limitless options, leaving them behind.
And yet, God is working in Haiti. His strength is made perfect in weakness, and we saw His strength in the ministries and people of HCM. Mouths are being fed, minds are being educated, wounds are being dressed, families are being sheltered, Scriptures are being taught, and souls are being won with the love and truth of Christ. As we rode the bumpy bus back and forth across the rocky mountain roads, we saw needs everywhere. But every time we stepped off the bus, we saw another place where HCM is ministering to the needs. God is working in the HCM staff, in the people of Haiti, and in those of us who are privileged enough to participate by visiting the mission. He is making Himself known to those who have ears to hear. He is being served by faithful Christians sharing the little they have with those who have even less. He is multiplying His kingdom.
He also showed off His skills at addition before we left. It was an appropriate and joyful ending to our trip when our only non-Christian team member responded to the week by deciding to accept Christ. He was baptized at sunrise on our final morning in Haiti. Thank you, Lord, for adding this one to Your number!
We are so grateful for God's good work in Haiti, so glad we got to see it in person, and so eager to find ways to help from home. We can offer daily prayers, child sponsorship, financial donations, awareness-raising, and maybe some of us can even go back again if the Lord allows.
In hindsight, maybe our goals weren't big enough. But we're glad God's math was bigger than ours! He knows the number of the stars and the number of the Haitians needing His love. And He knows just exactly how to meet those needs.
Multiply our hearts, Lord. Use us as You will.
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