The past week has been interesting to say the least.
I have purchased thousands of pounds of rice and beans. Hundreds of shoes, toys and Christmas
decorations. Driven or rather ridden
hundreds and hundreds of miles.
The car has broken down more times than I can count and when
we drove to the border to renew the visa, we were rewarded with a flatter than
flat tire. After getting that fixed, sitting in traffic for no less than 4
hours, the car died yet again. We finally got it running and were on our way.
What should have taken 5 or 6 hours turned into 15! I was called at 6:45 this
morning to hear the news that the car won’t start yet again and they were
working on finding a battery for us to borrow so that we could purchase a new
one and have the car looked at. Fun times in Haiti!
In the meantime, I was invited to a Haitian wedding. We
arrived at a church, only the bride and groom did not look familiar! OOPS!! How
many of you can say that you crashed a Haitian wedding? I bet I win! We found
the right church and saw the last few minutes of the wedding before we dashed
off to the reception. While there someone stole my cell phone out of my purse.
Fun times in Haiti!
In spite of all of this, I sit here tonight with a smile on
my face and joy in my heart!! My
translator and friend Bernard, has asked me, Why are you laughing Toya? You
keep laughing to yourself! Why – Because in spite of it all my God is GOOD! He
has shown me so much in the past few weeks. The enemy is so angry that God’s plan is still
going forward when He would love to stop it.
Each night worshippers gather at the house where I’m staying.
They sing and pray and praise from 9:00 p.m. until 4 or 5 or 6 in the morning.
Last night I sat on the porch and sang as many songs with them as I could in
English. Around midnight I went to my room weeping, just thanking God for all
He has done. My heart continues to break for the people of Haiti, yet it swells
with joy when I see the hope of the people and the trust in the Lord that the
Christians have.
What a blessing it is to be able to walk down the street and
ask people if they have prayer needs. Many say yes and are so encouraged to
have you pray with them. Tonight I was able to pray with a woman named Amen.
What a joy. At the end of our prayer, she said God knows all. He knows what we
need and He sent you to me. I have seen you walking up and down the streets for
days and today He sent you to me. She took me into her home and we kneeled
on T-shirts beside the lone bed she had
in the house. We held hands and prayed. She in Creole and me in English. Yes, some
crazy things are happening but through it all, MY GOD IS GOOD!
God is doing some amazing things through you in Haiti…….HE is so good!! Love you and praying!!
Great stuff Toya, Praying for more for you, more of His presence, more opportunities, praying that you would be “poured out” for Haiti.
Loads of love!
Yea!- you are no longer housebound! Kneeling beside that woman would have made it all worthwhile for me, but how cool that He has other assignments for you too. How was Watson’s wedding?? Or I guess, I should say, ‘How was the reception?’
Please keep us posted and if you get a new phone, do email us. Are other teams coming this year, or have they been cancelled too?
Has the ‘unrest’ died down? And I am really curious, cause I know how incredible it is for the Haitians praying/praising all night- but WHEN do they sleep?
Praying for ya!