and the list could go on and on.
Usually when God wants to speak to me he says the same thing a few times and I know he is teaching me something new.
Last Friday night we watched a film with our neighbours called the insanity of God...boy was it challenging. It told the story of a couple who moved to serve God in Africa. Then later in their ministry they were thinking of ways they could support the persecuted church and they went to many different countries, interviewing Christians and asking the question is Jesus worth it?
I'd love to share one particular story with you but maybe you should just read the book or watch the movie. Anyway the couple tell stories of Christians they met from different countries who had been thrown in prison, beaten, tortured and had many other awful things done to them simply because they follow Jesus. Many of these people have been through years of intense physical, psychological and spiritual suffering and yet they all agreed yes Jesus was worth it.
That puts living in Haiti into perspective.
Just two days later on Sunday evening Bill and I were listening to a sermon by David Platt. We have been working through his series on 1 Corinthians and last Sunday evening brought us to chapter 9, the sermon was entitled the cross and christian mission. (you can listen to it here). David Platt is very passionate about mission and his sermon hit home. One of the questions he asked was, do we as Christians want to get to the end of our lives, look back and realise we completely missed our purpose. Were we too wrapped up in church, in family life, in work etc, not that there is anything wrong with those things, but were we too engrossed in them to do what God has asked us to do. And what that is is to go into all the world, preach the gospel and make disciples. He was not saying we all need to pack our bags and move overseas but that each of us needs to be involved in the great commission. For us, at this time this is why we are in Haiti. So on those days when I really would prefer to be at home or when the boys ask if they can go to Bangor to see their cousin Jack because they miss him , its in those moments I need to ask myself is Jesus worth it?
And the answer...of course he is. If Jesus gave up his life for me then what can I give him but my life.
On a completely different note, this weekend we experienced two earthquakes. A 5.9 on Saturday evening around 8pm and the next one, 5.2 on Sunday around 4pm. The epicentre was about 75miles from us in the northwest of Haiti. We are all safe and there is no damage where we are but it was definitely scary. As far as we have heard 11 people have died and others are injured in the Port de Paix area.
I, along with probably all of Haiti couldn't help but think of the 2010 earthquake in Port au Prince. I couldn't believe how scary it felt for us and we were miles away from the epicentre, I can't even imagine what it would have been like in Port au Prince that day. My mind is going back to the hundreds of people I worked with in 2010 and how they must be feeling right now. The emotions and memories that are flooding back must be so strong and overwhelming. Please remember the people of Haiti today and pray for those affected at the weekend and also for peace for those who were in Port in 2010.
Here are just a few of those I treated back in 2010...
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| Yveline...lost her husband and two children. |
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| Little Dove proved everyone wrong by learning to walk with her prosthetic leg. |
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| Stefanie who was studying in Port trapped under rubble for days and came to me unable to walk. |
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| Joseph who lost both his legs but once he got his prosthesis he did great. |
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| I can't remember this girls name, but she was part of the group of ladies who sang praise and prayed every afternoon in their tent. |
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| A little miracle...Julieanna whose mum was trapped under the rubble for days in her first trimester of pregnancy. She was sure she would have lost the baby but Julieanna was born safely in August of 2010. |
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