Road to Boucan Patriot

For those of you that have been waiting so patiently on me, thank you once again. I have been so sidetracked with organizing all of the photos that getting my thoughts organized appears to have fallen through the cracks.

The village on the schedule after leaving Guniaudee was called Boucan Patriot. It was supposed to be another hour and a half drive but shortly after departing from Guinaudee, the truck found its way into quite a rut that added another 3 hours to our time. Though we were out in the middle of nowhere in between villages you would have been amazed at how quickly word traveled. Within a matter of minutes from our first getting stuck, there were people coming from every different direction. All of the school children made their way down the road and in total there must have been 150+ people that now joined us along the narrow mountain road. A few of our Haitian brothers began digging with their hands in an effort to free the buried tire and it was also amazing to see perfect strangers who happened to be walking by, immediately stop and start helping. If there is one thing that resonates throughout this country, (no matter what part of Haiti I found myself in) it all comes back down to that idea of community and selflessness. Whether seen through the innocent interactions between children like those in Petit or the sacrifice of time as we saw this particular afternoon, it was moving to see people helping others without regard to self. "Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor." (1 Cor 10:24 ESV) I really cannot seem to say enough about what an inspiration the Haitian people have been for my own life. I apologize if any of this sounds repetitive but it is just that I can barely contain my excitement and it has had such a huge impact that I can’t help but put a lot of emphasis on this aspect of Haitian culture! I have learned so many simple lessons while I was there and even now though I have been home for a few weeks the Holy Spirit continues to convict me of new things each day. It blows me away that these have all been lessons that God has taught me time and time again, yet, much like the Israelites, my retention is not quite up to par. We, and when I say "we" I am speaking on behalf of myself, tend loose focus. Our outlook gets so skewed that we lose sight of those very simple concepts that form the foundation of our faith. So for example, since I have job-searching on my mind, is it not true that we as Christians sometimes feel that there are so many things that we are called to do that perhaps we need a "job description" written out for our Christian walk? It would just make things so much easier. We do have this so to speak through the Word but ultimately it comes down to following Jesus' example. "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31). This is so easy to talk about but when we actually go to apply it to our lives then it becomes an entirely different story. Even as Christians, we are often so consumed with our lives and what we need to get done that we are blind to all of the doors God is opening up right before us to serve and edify one another. How many times do we look the other way when God is calling us to serve to one degree or another because we just don’t feel like it? Are we embracing these as the opportunities they are or have they become chores that we dread? How do we forget that we are here for Him? When did we allow our will surpass His? I know I am guilty of this more than I’d care to admit. We forget that it is supposed to be all about Him. Everything! Not just bits and pieces of our lives but every single aspect should be reflecting this very thing. As John 3:30 states, “He must increase, I must decrease.” I am sure that I have referenced this verse in a previous post and it is also the message that appears every time I start up my phone, it’s just that I think it is such a pertinent reminder for our everyday walk. This is not to say that we don’t or won’t get tripped up with various distractions and fall into the trap of looking out for our own interests above the interests of others. But when all is said and done...“It’s all about You, Jesus.”