Planting Seeds

We started the day with another extravagant breakfast then headed out to Grace Village to serve the kids and take them on a special outing.  We arrived at Grace Village to pick up the children who had earned the privilege to leave campus and serve alongside us.  Each adult was assigned a partner child and we loaded up two tap-taps.  We were off to Juno’s orphanage (Juno is the orphanage director) for a Bible lesson, craft activity and snacks.  They eagerly welcomed us with songs in Creole.  Pastor Wesley from Grace Village, prepared the hearts of young and old for our lesson with worship.  He closed with a round of the chicken dance, the universal call to peace and calmness before a Bible lesson. 

We led the lesson about God’s wisdom and turning to the Bible for discernment and determining what is right. We did a skit demonstrating the difference between God’s way and the world’s way.  We reviewed the books of the Old Testament and found that the children needed some refreshing.  The children dove into the craft, creating a bookmark with five steps to knowing God’s word.  The children enjoyed tracing their hands and selecting the ribbons.  We prepared a snack of graham crackers and peanut butter in the tap-tap.  Fortunately, we also purchased water along the way to wash down the peanut butter, a near oversight caught by one of our team members.  The children lined up dutifully behind the tap-tap to receive their snack.  Everyone enjoyed the graham cracker sandwiches under the shade of a mango tree.  We prepared to say our farewells and gathered up the Grace Village kids to say goodbye to Juno’s.  We dropped the children off at Grace Village and returned to the Guest House for an early evening and a trip to a Haitian market.

We may never see the results of our service due to the nature of short-term missions.  Our challenge is not to strive for the end product, but to do what is right for the moment and time.   We can’t wait to know the end before we start.  Paul explained this more clearly in I Corinthians 3:7: “So neither the one who plants or the one who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow.  The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.  For we are coworkers in God’s service, you are God’s field, God’s building. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.”  Today we were blessed to plant a seed.  The children struggled with the names of the Bibles because they did not have Creole Bibles at the orphanage.  By providence, we had seven Creole Bibles that we had brought for our planned lesson.   Pastor Wesley gave the Creole Bibles to Juno.  Juno graciously accepted these as “The most precious gift” that they could ever receive.  We only see our small part.  We trust God is faithful and will use His Word.  This was our last service trip, so we pray that others continue this work as they respond to His calling.

We had the pleasure to witness our Grace Village kids shepherding the children of Juno’s orphanage in reading scripture, assisting with craft, and joining our praise and worship.  A number of these Grace Village kids had resided in this same neighborhood just over a year ago, and now they have returned to be an example of service and encouragement for these children.  The seed planted in them at Grace Village has now created positive momentum.

The Grace Village kids are bearing fruit.  They  have been watered by Healing Haiti and the mission teams that have come before us.  This reminds us of the John 15:5 and 8 verses: “I am the vine; you are the branches.  If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”  It is inspiring to see the nurturing of Grace Village bearing fruit in these children, fruit that is now ripening to be harvested.  We saw the continuing of this ministry at Juno’s with the pairing of gracious actions and God’s Word.

This team is here for that purpose. “The church exists for nothing else but to draw people into Christ, to make them little Christs.  If they are not doing, that all the cathedral, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time.  God became man for no other purpose. “ – C.S. Lewis

posted by Dan and Margie