Sorry it has taken me so long to update! Things have been a
little crazy around here. A week after being in country again, the Spencer Hope
team came down and that was pretty fun to see some familiar faces! J Not to mention, my
mom!! The team was here for a week and then went home, but my mom and two other
ladies stayed an extra week with me and Cassidy. It was such a great time! J
We have had lots of crazy things happening the past few
weeks and have been busy running in a million different directions. Many Hands
for Haiti has been led to help a couple who has lost everything in a house fire
(their home, their possessions, their health, and even their 4 month old baby.)
You can read Carolyn and Wilfred's full story here. Many Hands for Haiti is in
the process of building them a house so they can get back on their feet as
well. In the past week we have also met a young mother (Cindy) and her son (Gilson) whose intestines
were literally sticking out of his stomach. Since the hospital in Pignon could
not fully treat him, they had to head to Milot to get an operation to fix this.
We helped with what we could and they were on their way. We don’t know if we
will ever see them again. We also had a child in our Thrive for 5 program
(Frislin) who had a HORRIBLE deep rope burn on the back of his knee from a
donkey. (It is healing quite nicely now.) All of these things are heartbreaking and devastating, but something
else has begun to weigh on my heart even more right now.
The last book I read was called Radical by David Platt and this
is a book everyone should read to have their “fire for Christ” ignited even
more. I have been thinking a lot after reading this book and it’s really making
me think about how living radically for The Lord looks. For example, when people
see us living in Haiti they always comment how awesome it is to see young
people devoted to The Lord. (We’ve talked about the pride issue already in the
last blog.) But now I keep thinking to myself, shouldn't THIS be considered a normal thing
for Christians? People shouldn’t say, “Wow that’s daring & courageous of
you to do” when they hear of someone being called to serve in another country. Moving
to Haiti (or anywhere else) shouldn’t be considered “outside the norm” for Christians
of any age and it definitely shouldn't be considered a drastic step. It should be normal because going where God calls us
is exactly what is expected of us. We are called as Christ followers to go to
the ends of the earth to share the good news. We are demanded to do so, it’s
not optional if you want to truly follow The Lord.
Right now what is considered as "radically living for God" should be the normal Christian lifestyle. It scares me to think about how off we are on what “radically
living for God” means. It doesn't just mean reading your Bible daily,
praying before we eat, going to church on Sunday, joining a Bible study, and
doing nice things for people. It means truly GOING to the ends of the earth and taking leaps of faith in order to make His name known (even walking across the street and witnessing to your cranky neighbors if that
is where God has called you.) It means truly focusing on people’s salvation instead
of just what their physical needs might be at the moment. One of my friends
once heard someone say, “If you Christians truly believed people would go to
hell if they didn't believe in Jesus, you would be crawling through the streets
begging people to listen to you.” We totally don’t do that. We say we believe
you need to know Jesus to get to heaven, yet we don’t beg anyone to listen to
us. Sometimes we won’t even talk about God with others! We figure if we don’t
know about/don’t address the issue, then it’s not OUR problem. The Bible tells
us differently. God sent his son Jesus (a REAL person) to come to earth and
witness to others about God. We were created for the exact same reason, we are
REAL people too who are supposed to go out and spread the good news just like
Jesus did. Whether we want to realize it or not, it is on our backs to plant
seeds and go to the ends of the earth proclaiming the good news to everyone in
our path, no matter where God places us. And when we as Christians choose to
take responsibility and do this, it shouldn’t be considered “living a crazy dedicated life for The Lord.” It should be the normal Christian thing to
do. (Note: I am totally NOT saying I have this one down and figured out, or
that I’m living like this every day, because most days I honestly don’t feel
like I’m doing enough for the Kingdom. It has been really on my heart though
and it’s something that all of us probably need to work on.) If you haven’t
read the book, I would highly suggest doing so!! J
(Radical by David Platt)
Please keep our team in your prayers so that we continue to
follow the path that God wants us to and to be reminded daily to take time for the
people He places in front of us. A quick prayer for energy wouldn’t hurt
either. J
Love,
Tampico
Tampico
