Monday, March 16, 2015

First Day on the Job


03/14/15

I find it hard to keep my eyes awake tonight as I relish the feeling of clean skin and a peaceful heart. I will endeavor to remain lucid long enough to paint a picture of today’s happenings.

Today was our first day of “working in the fields of the Lord”, if you’ll allow the phrase. Prep was done, and so early this morning we opened up the doors of the school and clinic and let the Lord’s will rock and roll.

We opened the courtyard of the school fairly early for the sponsorship children and were instantly flooded. To combat the general chaos, several stations were set up. First, kids would go to several of the younger girls to get measured for clothing and shoes. Next, they took a moment to go up against the wall so that Virgil could take a picture of them to match a face with a name and sizes. They then headed to a little table where their clothing information was taken down, matched with a face, and duplicated so that the files in the state could be updated. They finally got with Gail at the end of the line (or rather, uneven spiral) and gave a bunch of general bio, like age, grade, and interests for the information packets. There was one other booth set up for pastor Andre as he made sure the sponsorship money got into the right hands.

Desiring to get a better look, I climbed to the top of the school and found a perch to settle on that gave me an excellent view of the structured anarchy below. It was just like back in the states- teeny tiny children wide-eyed with excitement clinging to siblings, elementary/middle-school aged kids running around laughing and squealing, teens trying their best to look cool (and failing, as teens often do). After a moment, a little kid, Galvar (I probably butchered that spelling), came up and started chatting away with me. Did we understand each other? Absolutely not, but that didn’t matter. I let him use the camera I had, taking pictures of him which made him giggle to no end.

I was having a wonderful time with Galvar and our small silver camera, and then reality hit. Looking down, I saw a kid walking awkwardly to the side where he was pushed into a seat. The cause of his walk was not an injury, at least that I could see, but simply malnutrition- his core was so small that I could probably wrap my hand around his thigh with room to spare. He was weak- barely strong enough to lift his head. My heart broke. Praise God for all the healthy children I saw, growing like weeds, but the hurt and the pain still remains in this land. This didn’t take away from my time and joy with Galvar, but it did cast somewhat of shadow on my heart as I continued playing with Galvar. Bidding him goodbye after a bit, I headed over to the clinic.

The clinic was, in stark contrast, tame today. I believe word about us being a “medical” group hadn’t quite gotten out yet, leading the numbers to be substantial, but not undoable. In fact, we were able to serve pretty much everyone who walked through the doors today. The team of doctors, nurses, and PA’s we brought over did an absolutely wonderful job treating everything thrown at them, but lack of resources and the absence of technology  able to properly diagnose forced us to primarily treat symptoms instead of the actual disease. Yet, even through these hardships, the medical team healed many a pained soul and I praise God for that.

Medicine wasn’t the only thing going on in the clinic, as a group of the guys tore down an old, rusted metal sink and started constructing a new one. This venture proved highly successful, and by the end of the day we had thrown up a great frame with plans on finishing it all off tomorrow morning. Trevor, glowing with accomplishment, commented that this sink was the “quickest, highest quality, and best Haiti construction job” the group has done in a while.

Today was a good day. We are tired but happy, excited for the Church service tomorrow morning. The Lord did a lot of work through us today, but it only served as a reminder that we walk a dangerous line between treating the symptoms and curing the disease. Like Christ, we should strive to fill the physical needs first (as Christ did by feeding the 5000 and healing the sick before proclaiming the kingdom of God), but all the bread and medicine in the world won’t save a soul if Christ is not proclaimed. So often, we as Christians measure our success by tangible things (money given, time devoted, stuff donated) but fail to realize that the most important battle lines are with the people themselves. Sitting back today, thinking on the day, my highest moment spiritually, the time I felt like I served God the most, was not when I helped build the new sink or separated medicine at the clinic, but that brief, maybe 5 minutes I spent Galvar, and I think that all the team will agree with me that the actual physical work we do pales to the importance of just building relationships. This isn’t a “missionary” thing- this is for all of us Sons and Daughters of God. Yes, Christ does call us to give our time, our talents, and our treasures, but above all- He calls us to give our hearts. He calls us to care for the brokenhearted, the teary-eyed, the widows and orphans. This absolutely means striving to meet their physical needs, but the soul longs for companionship in the Lord more than the stomach for bread or the throat for water. This is yet another blessing God gives us, allowing us to serve him anywhere we are, for we will always be surrounded by people who need the Grace of God and the love from our hears, even if we don’t have two quarters to rub together or a talent we find particularly useful. Once again, God grants strength to our weakness, striving to conquer the cancer instead of just the cough.

We are incredibly grateful for the prayers you all offer for us, and we ask that you continue pray for the continuation of Gods will, not just in the lives of the mission group, but in the lives of all who call upon the Lord. This will be my last blog, so you will have the pleasure of reading the words of Courtney Powers and Abigail Harman in the days to come. Thanks for reading!

                                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                In Christ, Jacob Eastman            

P.S. I apologize once again for the late posting. We've been having major wifi problems. Thank you for your patience! - Josh)

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