On Thursday I leave for San Jose, Costa Rica and Port Au Prince, Haiti. I am going to help host two groups of students on their Mission Adventures outreach. The last time I was in Haiti was two weeks after the January earthquake. I am excited to go back, excited and a bit nervous. How will things have changed since January? Has any progress been made to help see Haiti come out from under extreme poverty? Will I be effective at all while I am there? How will I do with seing and being involved with those living in extreme poverty? All these things and more are bouncing around in my head.
I have some great friends over in Port Au Prince whom I am excited about working with again. We will be working in a refugee camp that YWAM in Port Au Prince has kind of adopted. We will be doing service projects in the refugee camp, as well as having times of worship and prayer for the people living there. I am going with a great group of students from Come Alive Church in New Jersey and will be there for 6 day’s, following 7 day’s spent in San Jose, Costa Rica doing the same sorts of things.
This main thing I am excited for is also the main thing I am nervous about, living among and
doing life with those living in unbearable extreme poverty. I remember as a kid changing the channel when Sally Struthers came on to talk about kids in Africa who were dying from starvation. I remember seing the devastation in Haiti in January on the tube and being able to change the channel when it got to intense, but going, that is a different picture all together, one you can’t so easily turn off.
The thing is, I don’t want to turn it off. I want to see the realities of life that most people in my countries (USA and Canada) don’t get the privilege to see. I feel closer to Jesus when I am with the poor. I hear Jesus clearer and come closer in touch with who I am when I spend time with the poor. I will be blogging and posting pictures and tweets during my time there. I am expecting another life changing experience, can’t wait.
