For anyone keeping track (or trying to), the last 4 months or so have not gone according to our original plans.
In our minds, Jamie was going to be in the US for the month leading up to Mara’s birth, and a month afterwards, then she was going to visit Finland so Mara could meet her extended family, and I was going to head back to Haiti.
But God had different plans in mind.
In the end, our 2 month departure from Haiti became more like 5, but it’s been great, even if my guys back in Jacmel may not be so sure yet.
Our Finland plans didn’t work out as intended, so I “had” to travel with Jamie and Mara over there, which was pretty great if I’m honest. I kinda wanted to go all along, but was trying to be fiscally responsible and that her mom could take care of her while she was there. Then, her mom’s plans changed, and some dear friends chipped in to cover the additional costs of me heading over as well.
Then, the biggest delays to getting back to Haiti came because God provided our “new” vehicle.
Today, I dropped off our 2000 Isuzu Trooper at the docks, loaded with baby stuff and tools. We didn’t make a big deal about gathering the stuff to put in the truck this time because we realized that we needed to be quite selective with our limited space, but we certainly used up every cubic inch we could safely secure in the back of this thing.
And now, it’s time to head back to Haiti.
I’m excited (to get back to work with the guys), terrified (about what may have broken while I’ve been gone), nervous (to bring our daughter with us into the most politically unstable Haiti I’ve ever experienced), and relieved (because as great as it was to stay with my parents and catch up with friends, it will just be nice to get “home” and settle into life with Jamie and Mara in Haiti).
I’m also ready to move forward again.
I’ve been confused about direction lately, and I think it was mostly that I was overthinking things.
I wanted to get more involved in discipleship and building a church since they were “more evangelistic” than what I was doing. I felt like I wasn’t doing enough.
But you know what? I’m an engineer. And I’m actually a pretty good one. God has put me in a position to learn and grow into a role in Haiti that is quite unique.
And everyday, I get to work with Anderson, Gayly, Fleury, Waly, and Bouki, and we may even pick up some new people.
I’m looking forward to getting more involved in aiding other ministries again.
I was getting weary of that. Mostly because of the turnover I’ve seen.
We’ve seen friends leave for health reasons, family reasons, or even because they screwed up and had to leave
We’ve seen organizations grow well enough that they don’t need help, or implode
We’ve made new friends, only to say goodbye after a few short months.
We’ve seen Church on the Beach, which was awesome for a time, then got derailed, and now, only Sarah Wallace remains in Haiti from our original group of ex-pats that started it…
It’s crazy, because I moved to Jacmel to be with the missionaries there, and now there’s only a handful of us that remember what 2011 was like.
And for a while, all of that had be growing weary.
But you know what, our day to day life is still a worthwhile ministry, even if I was starting to doubt it. It may not be glamorous, but it is good.
I am looking forward to getting back to the workshop and working with my guys.
We have more ministries to help, including a few solar setups on the docket, and I’ve got more ideas to try with them so that we can develop their skills, and the technology to help other missions in Haiti as well.
And I’ll have a role in New Perspectives Church which Pierre and Lorphene have started. It may not be flashy, but God calls us to a daily walk with Him, taking care of each day as it comes, and I’m ready to continue that journey.
