Mission Trip | Reveds's Blog

Day 7 ends with our mission team packing up and getting ready to return home. Today was another day of hard work – welding, cutting, plowing, painting. Amy even got in some piano and voice lessons. We finished 6 new bunkbeds, prepped another 6, and cut out and started 10 new desks. We are all hot, tired, weary from the work, thoroughly exhausted – but so very blessed to have had the opportunity to serve and work alongside such wonderful people.
Tomorrow we say goodbye to all the beautiful girls at the consolation center. It will be hard, but we can’t leave without seeing them one more time. Then we’re on the road for Port-au-Prince and hopefully some sightseeing before we return stateside.
Today our mission team discussed Faithfulness as one of the characteristics of the Fruit of the Holy Spirit. Faithfulness is a rare but valuable virtue these days. People make promises they never intend to keep, contracts are broken with impunity, commitments mean little. It is hard to find a friend who will stay true, hard to find someone to trust who has integrity and will always stand at your side. It’s hard to be the friend who will stay true, hard to be the one with integrity.
It is not so with God. The Word of God over and over again declares that God does what He says He will do. Numbers 23:19 says, “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” And James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” God is faithful and true, utterly trustworthy. And such should be the character of those who name the name of Christ.
Obviously, none of us will ever be perfect in this area. We will fail people just as they will fail us. But we should be known as people who are trustworthy and dependable in an ever-increasing measure. These character traits serve as a powerful testimony in today’s world and bring glory to the God we emulate.
As I said at the beginning of the post, it’s been a long day. It’s been an exercise of faithfulness just to put together this blog today – I think I’ve dozed of once or twice. I’ve added some pictures for your perusal. Thank you for your faithfulness in reading, and in your faithfulness in prayers.
SDG

Ahh… peace and quiet at last. It’s day 5 in Haiti, and for the first time since we’ve arrived, we can hear the waves crashing in to shore. There’s no music blaring outside until three in the morning. Just the gentle hum of a generator, the light buzz of the swarm of mosquitos, and the wooshing of bats above our heads. Ah, Haiti.
It is lovely here, really, and we had an adventurous day. We started off dividing our work force. Matt was welding, Bruce was repairing the plow, and the ladies were gofers – going for this and that as needed. I went with Les to the Haiti version of Home Depot – it even had the right smell. We picked up a load of square tubing and angle iron, loaded the Land Rover with gas, as well as bought plenty of gas for the generators, and brought all the supplies back to the Consolation Center.
When we got back, so much had been done, but a break was sorely needed. It’s impossible to adequately convey just what the climate is like here. It’s hot. It’s sticky. The wind rarely moves. And the Sun burns down directly overhead. It’s easy to overdo it, and when you are welding, using a cutting torch, and working in the sun – you can overheat quickly.
We had one team member succumb to a little heat exhaustion today. The Haitians who were with us responded quickly, bringing us a bunch of coconuts – the electrolytes in the coconut have an exceptional ability to rehydrate and restore you. Still, we sent our sick one back the the beach house to rest for the remainder of the day – he went with our prayers, and we got back to work – more welding, some painting, and even some plowing. The good news is, if this ministry thing doesn’t pan out, I now have marketable skills in welding (wire and stick welding).
We finished the day with a refreshing swim in the ocean, followed by wonderful meal prepared by a lovely woman from the community. The main meal was goat, and it was fantastic. She made way more than we could eat, and the leftovers went to good use – we should all sleep well tonight.
Our devotional study for the day was on Kindness as an aspect of the Fruit of the Spirit. Kindness is a benevolence of disposition – desiring the welfare of others, even those who are continually taxing our patience. Kindness is wanting the best, thinking the best, and working for the best for all people, often at great personal expense.
We have been supported (financially and prayerfully) through the tremendous kindness of our congregation at Memorial Presbyterian Church. We have been shown great kindness and hospitality by our mission partners, Les ad Catherine DeRoos. But most importantly, we have receive the greatest of kindness, when God showed the “immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Jesus Christ” (Eph 2:7), when, through Christ, God raised us from the dead and to give us life.
God has proven to be kind and generous. When the punishment of sin was death, God showed kindness to Adam and Eve, clothing them to hide their shame, and sending them out of the Garden and away from His wrath. God continued to show kindness by demonstrating patience, and continually working restoration and reconciliation with His people. God’s ultimate kindness is seen in Christ coming to us for our salvation.
And so it is in that kindness that we have come to Haiti; and it is our hope that we may share God’s kindness with those around us. We want the people of Haiti to know God, and to trust in the grace of God through Jesus Christ for their salvation. We share this Good News freely. Yet we are also here to share this Good News through purposeful acts of kindness. We are making beds, painting gates, fixing plows, playing with children, rocking babies to sleep – so that through our kindness, others may see the kindness of God in us and be drawn to Him.
How much better would our message of the Gospel be if our preaching, our teaching, our evangelism, were always accompanied by purposeful acts of kindness? As you preach the Gospel, as you live the Gospel, try a little kindness – so that the world may see your good works, and give glory to our heavenly Father.
SDG