Wanted

Wanted!

Although I haven’t been in Haiti very long, I have been here long enough to see certain patterns. Some of these patterns aren’t necessarily bad, but they could be better. Not by my standards, but by God’s. When I go out into the town, the ‘obvious’ issues are lack of cleanliness, trash, food out in the open, trucks that release terrible fumes in the air, children so young running along the streets, people with no shoes, shirts, pants, ect… Those are the obvious things I see. But I started looking past that. Past the poverty, and wanted to see the people. Then I noticed, they have issues, just like me. Insecurity, jealousy, anger, un-forgiveness, lust, addictions and so on. They are people, chosen, accepted, and loved by the same God that created me. We came from the same clay. We share the same breath of God. Yet so many of them are suffering. Instead of asking why God could allow it, I started asking myself. We are so quick to blame God for the poverty, sickness, hate, and abuse in this world but we don’t do anything about it. It’s like blaming your mom for your room being dirty while you sit and watch t.v or read or even go out with friends. Yeah it’s a room in your mom’s house, but it’s been given to you as a temporary place to call your own. It’s your responsibility. God created this beautiful earth, filled it with beautiful people, and He chose to allow us to be responsible for it. He created something and gave us a temporary home until it’s time to go to our eternal home.

My question is, what are you doing about it? If you see a need somewhere, or if something bothers you, why aren’t you trying to do anything for it! Now trust me, I believe in prayer and so I think prayer is a good tool to use. But you know what other tool we have that we let go to waste? The very power of God that raised Christ from the dead. I refuse to believe that a poverty stricken nation can’t be restored. Not when there are billions of people on this earth that possess the ability and potential to do something. If something isn’t getting done, even if we don’t see it as our problem, and we don’t do anything about it, we are giving up opportunities.

Now I don’t want you to think I am directing this at everyone except me, trust me when I say I have wrestled these thoughts. I see kids walking around during school hours because they couldn’t pay this month. That bothers me. A lot. I see one child going to school while their siblings stay home to make meals on the side of the road to be able to pay for the education of one of them. That bothers me. I’ve thought, yeah good job Britt, you saw a problem and went to Haiti and are teaching English. Wait? Just teaching English? That doesn’t get kids in school, that doesn’t proclaim the gospel, that doesn’t this and that doesn’t that. I struggled. So although, it’s moving slow, God is opening opportunities to equip me to do something about what bothers me.

There are many needs in Haiti. Hunger, thirst, nakedness, sickness, fear, despair, lack of leadership, lack of proper education for woman and children. These are big issues. I also know Haiti isn’t the only place with these issues. With this I’d like to challenge some of you. Pray a scary prayer. Truly desire the answer from God whatever it may be.

** Pray about what bothers you. Then ask God to give you an opportunity to do something about it.**

Then hold on tight! Because He is faithful and simply waiting for us to make ourselves available. I would also like to extend a personal invitation to Haiti. I’m not meant to tackle all these needs. If one person was meant to do this, He wouldn’t have created so many unique people. I know my purpose here is education. But also have a desire for other needs.

 Leadership. This country lacks leadership. Even in the missionary world, women outnumber the men drastically. This is slightly discouraging. Women can be great leaders but they can be greater when leading alongside a God fearing, devoted, kingdom minded man. I have run into quite a bit of conflict with the older boys. They discuss cultural norms, the expectations they have and so on and I am learning, they have not had any experience with leadership. Now I, Brittany, 25 year old American girl, cannot tell and teach these young boys how to be leaders and great men of God. (If I felt equipped to do so, I wouldn’t be so confused by men in general). But seriously, many times guys come to build and construct, and help with labor, GREAT! But it’s just as important to disciple and teach. My friend and I have talked a lot about how difficult it is to teach young men even just English because they don’t have the respect for women. We’ve discussed how truly amazing it would be for men of any age, to come and connect with the men in our areas. Build a relationship and show them Biblical truths regarding a man’s responsibilities to his family, community, church and country. Many times groups come, they spend a couple weeks working and sharing the gospel but many times the people shrug it off because they feel like they were only spoken to because that was the ‘mission’ not because the people who came actually cared. Now don’t get me wrong, I am sure many groups genuinely care for the people, but they come and go so fast. They have nothing to hold onto. No accountability.

 So what is WANTED, are God fearing, willing, able, devoted, bold, strong and dream seeking men who are hungry for the Word and passionate about sharing it, to GO. Disciple. Preach. Build. Connect! Whether it’s here in Haiti (which is desperately needed) or just in your home town.

Women. The women here lack knowledge on child care, sex, modesty, and respect for themselves. What is WANTED, are loving, wise, encouraging, supportive, and passionate about Christ to come and show these beautiful woman what it means to be a daughter of the KING. How to nurture and love among all this hate and cruelty. As I stated before, whether it be here Haiti (which is desperately needed), or your own town, just GO.

I see so much potential that’s getting swallowed by poverty. My desire is to show and share the possibilities that are endless in Christ. I can’t do it alone though. Pray. Asses your talents. See where and how they can be used. Not just in the ‘typical’ and ‘expected’ way, but the above and beyond. The impossible.

I mentioned earlier this was an invitation to Haiti. I am not putting Haiti above any other nation, it’s simply where I am at and where God has placed my desire. The other part of what is WANTED are people who are willing to commit to an extended time. One and two week trips are great for construction and door to door ministry, or even distributing food, but what’s on my heart is long term trips. About a month or so. Four weeks. Talking to the people. Asking questions. Learning their fears, dreams, talents, and fall backs. Building relationships and sharing the Gospel through actions and love and if necessary, our words. I would say I am not trying to make this sound scary but that wouldn’t be true. I want it to be scary. I want us to be pushed to really think about making a commitment to something out of our comfort zone to do something about what bothers us. God never said make the safest choice, most financially correct choice, the ‘logical’ choice, no. He said go, trust me, tell everyone about my love. I can’t recall a single time when people in the Bible did anything safe to follow God. They were smart but not safe.

So let’s recap

*Challenge*

Pray for opportunities.

Go.

Overflow with Blessings.

Yeah that’s it!

I’ll even give you a great resource. It’s called the prayer of Jabez. This prayer rocked my world. It still is. Pray it. Meditate on it .Go one line at a time or all at once but when you do… BE PREPARED to be shaking and stirred!

Here’s the prayer.

1 Chronicles 4:10

“Oh that you would bless me indeed and expand my territory! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all troubles and pain! “ And God granted him his request.”

Powerful stuff. He prayed this seemingly simple prayer, and God said yes. Wow. God is good. I look forward to hearing and seeing people act and react to this.

**And when God shakes things up for you, please share your story with me!**