It has approximately been a year since I traveled to Haiti and often times, I still find myself revisiting the deeply embedded memories; from simple things like riding in a “tap tap” (an open back truck) and helping out with the feeding program on evenings, to smaller things, like enjoying their yummy chicken nuggets. These streams of memories flood my mind constantly and they point to lessons learnt, and each lesson points to love.
“Love, loves to love and the reward of love, is love.” — Misty Edwards
Love must be one of the most talked about concepts ever, everyone is searching for it because we were all made by and for Love, Himself. We all have our own ideas about what love is, what it looks and what it feels like, but I dare say that you can’t find love outside of God, because it does not exist; at the core of love is God, He IS love, and only in Him will you find it and be able to express it.
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:8 (ESV)
In understanding who love is and getting connected to His heart, our inward submission to His love translates outwardly to submission to His commandments.
Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. John 14:23 (ESV)
Jesus commanded His disciples to go out and make disciples of all nations, we are His disciples and therefore that commandment applies to us and we obey His commandments because we love Him.
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV)
God wears nations on His heart, He calls out nations and exposes His heart to them, He shows them His sorrow over their abandonment and reasons with them to come – to repent and return to Him. God has created man to walk with and partner with Him, we see an excellent depiction of this as Adam walked alongside Him in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:8). In partnering with Him, we care about what He cares about, and He cares about people — the nations of the earth, and therefore, we should as well. Very often we dismiss missions as an event that is only available to or expected of a select few; however, we are ALL called to missions, whether our mission field is our home, our work place, our school, our community or other nations. Wherever you are positioned, there is a ready harvest awaiting labourers, choose to accept the call to labour for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 (ESV)
I said all of that to say that I love God and I love the people He has created and therefore when Haiti presented itself, God spoke and I answered and responded by following Him there. I traveled with a mixed-age group of Barbadians who are a part of a group called “Team Hope” and we united in the purpose of seeking to make a difference by displaying the love of Christ. Our theme was “Revival Is Possible” which stemmed from John Yarde’s song “Revival Is Possible” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7NyU0ojpac&feature=kp) and was rooted in God’s promise in His word to hear the sincere cry of His people and to answer them, God is in the habit of answering our deprivation with mercy.
If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14
We believed this promise of the Lord for Haiti, believing that if they would humble themselves and return to the Lord, He would forgive them and restore their land. We delivered this message in various ways as we co-laboured with God concerning the work He had already started in the church and the orphanage which we worked with while we were there.
We stayed for two weeks and those weeks were filled with extreme highs and extreme lows but through it all, we prayed that God was glorified. I can personally say that when you are pushed directly out of your comfort zone — away from your loved ones, confronted with a very different culture and facing severe challenges in communicating with your VERY limited Haitian creole vocabulary, then you realize that one thing surpasses every barrier imaginable, and that is love.
So we submitted under the leadership of Love and allowed Him to use us.
I am a firm believer that revival is possible and we fuel it with our love for God and others! Love on somebody today!
Jacmel, Haiti. Photo credit: Michael Trotman Photography
( http://michaeltrotmanphotography.com/ )
Penned by yours truly,
Dominique Lovell
heavenlyglimpses 