It’s Free Friday! What are you going to let go of today so that you are free? What’s holding you back from being who God called you to be? Every Friday is an opportunity to get yourself free. This week’s Free Friday is different from others. I’m in Haiti and recounting our trip day by day. There won’t be a giveaway today, but there will be an opportunity to be free.
As we move into the second part of this trip, our spirits are high and we are energized because of the people of Haiti. Our bodies are sore and tired because the work we are doing combined with the heat. Day 5 was a very productive day for our team. We planned this work weeks before our trip. It started with me emailing the team members that I didn’t know or hadn’t seen in a while. I asked what skills they had that they felt God could use on this trip. I wasn’t sure what all we could do with the diversity of the skills, but God knew and placed each person on this team to do what only they could do.
Two of the skills came from a couple. One of them is a nurse and the other can do carpentry. The orphanages and communities where we work here need both badly. When we first arrived at Myan on Monday, we told all the local kids we would have a clinic on Thursday. We asked them to spread the word throughout the community. Just because the orphanage isn’t open, it doesn’t mean we can’t start impacting the community around it now. We explained the process and that was all that was said about it.
When the clinic opened yesterday, it was slow going with only a few people. These ladies brought their children dressed in the best clothes they had and had shoes on their feet. They were so excited to be seeing a medical professional. We treated them, gave them medicine and sent them on. Word really spread after that. Our team treated families from 10:00 to 5:30 without taking a break. We had to turn people away because it was getting dark and we had to get back to the guesthouse. We told them to come back tomorrow so we could help them.
Another team was finishing up staining the beds for the orphanage while another team was putting varnish on the finished ones. They worked until the beds were finished being stained and the varnish ran out. When they finished up, they began to entertain the kids in line. We gave each person a number so they didn’t have to stand there or lose their place to see a nurse. One person, began teaching the kids how to do cartwheels while another introduced baseball to them. Our freshly leveled courtyard made a great baseball field. The children had a stick and an old, beat up tennis ball. Perfect for baseball.
Our other team finished up two full walls of shelving units for storage and medical supplies for the orphanage. We also build a tabletop desk for the administrator to be able to sit at and do work. The local workers kept coming in to look at what and how we were doing things. By the end of the project, we had turned it over to two men who are on Coreluv staff. It was amazing to watch them pick it up after watching us and to complete the project. The shelves are sturdy and beautiful. We’ll finish them up by placing doors on the medical side.
This trip has reminded me of something that Mike Reizner, the founder of coreluv.org, told me once. He said, “You shouldn’t pray and ask God for permission to go on a missions trip. He’s already commanded us to go into all the world. The real thing you should ask Him is if He is ok with you not going.” It’s time to free yourself of the excuses that keep you from doing what God wants you to do. Free yourself from the things that hold you back from His will for your life, whatever that may be. Don’t let another excuse keep you away from a missions trip. If you’d like to go to Haiti, email missions@coreluv.org to find out how.
