Today has been one of those days where you feel like there is too much going on to absorb everything. My day actually started late last night. There was wailing happening outside my house. It was so loud that it scared the children. It was coming from right inside the gate.
So I put my shoes on, went downstairs, and realized that a young pregnant lady had died. Melissa and Dr. Simon had tried to revive her but there was simply nothing that could be done. She was hypertensive, someone said that she had a seizure before she even got to our gates, and just like that – a relatively healthy momma was gone.
There must have been 25 people or so crying out. I prayed with them and asked them if the young mother knew Jesus. They told me she did. I then had the privilege at 1am to share about Heaven and tell them that this pregnant momma is now holding her baby while she sits at the feet of Jesus. They wrapped her in a white sheet, placed her on an army cot, and carried her back to her home.
As I have said before – death is no stranger to Haiti. It was full of heartache – long before the quake ever came. It creeps into the homes of nearly everyone I know. It preys on little children and takes 50% of them captive before they ever see their 5th birthday. It haunts the malnourished babies, imprisons the mothers and fathers, and sits and waits by the sides of our granmoun. Death is real no matter where you live but it feels so close to those of us who live in Haiti. We deal with death on so many levels and is apart of our daily life. I might find it hard to function on any sort of level if it weren’t for one big thing…….Jesus Christ conquered death.
Yesterday at church I sat behind a lady who lived in Port-au-Prince. She stood up and said “I am from Port-au-Prince. I lost everything I have. My house is gone. My family is gone. I want to be baptized because Jesus is all I have left”.
My friend Bobbi spent a year in Port-au-Prince. I got this email from her today: Remember the school I worked for…you went with me to meet the director? It totally collapsed. My boss has 2 crushed legs and a crushed arm. He was buried 18 hours (he was blind to start with). His wife was 7 months pregnant and she died. I have another friend that has a 5 month old and they are living on the streets, they lost everything. I want to be there so bad in MY Port au Prince with MY friends. Finally God helped me to realize that it is HIS Port au Prince and I will be there when I am needed.
I got this verse sent to me from Samantha Guilliams this morning:
Psalms 121,
1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
Isn’t God’s word so comforting? He is the same God – yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He is definitely watching over my coming and going.
My family has been strongly encouraged to come out of Haiti for a few days. We have yet to have a night where the girls aren’t crying about the house falling. The girls have no concept of where the earthquake hit. They think everything was destroyed – everywhere. It was really precious but kind of sad yesterday when Malaya came to me crying about Disney World. She said Mikela told her it fell with the all the houses. Now you might think she would be sad because that means she can’t ride the rides or go there to play. No – her first two questions were – – Did Cinderella make it out okay? Have you heard from her?
Jose often wakes up in cold sweats – still thinks often about his experience in PAP. One of the mission’s psychologists likened Jose’s experience to that of a war veteran.
It’s time for the girls to start thinking of other things besides death and the quake. It’s not healthy. So when I got the word we “need” to take them out for 10 days – I kept thinking – that’s easier said than done.
But My God has already started watching over my comings and goings. In order to get out of this country (since there are no commercial flights here) you have to go on a 9 hour bus ride to Cap Haitian, take a chartered flight to Turks and Caicos, and then catch up with the airlines to fly to Miami. Thinking about all of that with 7 children isn’t really appealing.
Realizing that this seemed nearly impossible I just simply laid it all at His feet. If He wants me to take the family out – everything will just line up. I don’t want to leave Haiti at all – so it will not be “my doing” but His to make this happen.
Today we got confirmation that Go Ministries will fly my family from Port-de-Paix to Cap Haitian for free. Our surgery team chartered a flight for Friday to Turks with 10 extra seats on it – enough to fit my large family. We don’t really have the funds for this unplanned trip. However – I know as God has already provided the way to get to Turks and Caicos – He’ll get us the rest of the way. When you lay it at His feet – it’s His business to figure out the details.