Well I'm going to Haiti....

Tomorrow I will be on a plane, Haiti bound.  Am I nervous to leave my family and travel to a third world country? Yes.... and No. 

The human part of me is, but the part that God has been chiseling away at isn't.

For years I have been pulled towards this type of stuff (missions to be specific), and for years I have wrestled with the reality of it.

I remember being young, unable to keep a dry eye while watching a "Feed the Children" commercial.  In college, I began to feel the senselessness of gaining a costly Christian education, when really all we as Christians were called to do was love others and help those in need.  I wanted to go somewhere, badly, but I didn't....I knew it wasn't my time quite yet.

Two years ago, God began to teach me some things by watching the harrowing scenes of the earthquake that rocked Haiti in 2010.  I began to be shocked at the very fact that it was even possible to for me to see almost live images of people being pulled from rubble and pictures of so many dead.  I began to question myself, my own motives for life, and tried to stack them up against the motives of Jesus' life. It seemed apparant to me that he poured out his life for the suffering.  I could easily click to a different page, focus on something more positive, but doing so seemed like witnessing a murder and doing nothing.

Up until that point, I think I viewed Christians who went on missions trips, fed the hungry and homeless, etc. as something like a super Christian who was earning bonus points or something.  I was beginning to realize that for Christians, helping those in need is not really optional.

"...For I was hungry and you gave me something  to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me." (Matthew 25)

I don't think Jesus is asking us to care for the poor.  I think he commands it.

God has sewn this seed in my heart, and watered it in recent years.  I have felt the pull, but have resisted making my own plans to fulfill what God was laying on my heart.  After many errors, I have realized that it is very important to wait for Him to lead in ANY endeavor. 

And so I have waited.

And tomorrow I will be leaving for a 9 day trip to Haiti.

We are traveling with a group of about 25 people, all joining Mission Haiti Medical, under Dr. Mark Fulton.  We will arrive in Haiti at 10:20 a.m. Friday morning.  We will be helping out at clinics and distributing vitamins and medications as needed in the St. Ard area.  Every evening we will have devotions as a group to share our joys and sorrows and how we see Jesus working.  Here is a rough sketch of the week:
Saturday: clinic on site with Orphanage children
Sunday: Church and relax on Sabbath
Monday: hike to Mt. Nikolai
Tuesday: Clinic in Galledluya
Wednesday: 3 hour drive to Gonaive
Thursday: 1/2 day on site clinic
Friday: Leave Haiti 10:30 a.m. arrive in Indy at 10:45 p.m.

I would appreciate prayers for safety and God's will in everything!  Stay tuned, I will most likely write as soon as I get back.  Thank you to those of you who have been faithful in supporting my trip!