Jesus Is Big

We were blessed to get to know this man, Franz. I think it's evident just from the picture, that this man knows the Lord. He radiated Jesus, and he shared his story of how Jesus found him. It's at the end, and it blew my mind. He spoke English very well, and by God's provision, happened to be there as our group was having our sharing night. He listened intently as we shared our stories from the trip so far, and then spoke some words of encouragement to us. I think that moment impacted me more than any other on the trip. 

He told us how many missions groups had come to Haiti, knowing that people here are hungry and poor. So they would offer people food. Then they would say, "First, accept my Jesus." Of course, if someone is hungry enough, they will say the words to "accept" Jesus. It was convicting...and heartbreaking..that Christians would be more concerned with conversion numbers than with empty stomachs or truly changed lives. 

Then he told us that when people see us coming to Haiti to care for people and working alongside Haitians to do so, they see the unity of the body of Christ. I'll never forget his words: "When people see Haitians and Americans, black and white, working together, they see that Jesus is big." 

For me, that was what is was all about. He verbalized a big reason why I do short-term missions. Not because we're so holy and rich that we make a big difference spending a week in a foreign country. It's because when we go, we see that Jesus is BIG. He is bigger than the American subculture with which I am familiar. He is bigger than the cultural and socioeconomic lines that we draw. He is bigger than countries and race and language. 

It is why Jesus commands the church to be unified. As he prays for believers in John 17, he says "I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." Because when people see the church working together, bound by Christ and not by cultural lines, they might just get that a taste that Jesus is big. We represent Christ and speak the Gospel of reconciliation to those around us when we break down sinful human barriers with Christ's unifying love.

Then I asked if Franz would share how he came to know Jesus. He said that while growing up people would always tell him, "Accept Jesus." He would say, "No, why do I want your Jesus?" He was very sick when he was young, and when he was 15, a doctor told him that he had a heart issue and gave him five months to live. People told him, "Accept Jesus. He will heal you." But Franz continued to refuse, seeing that all the time Christians would get sick just like non-Christians.

One night, as he slept, a man appeared to him in a dream. The man said "Accept me." Franz said, "Who are you?" Then man repeated, "Accept me." Franz said, "I don't want to accept you. I just want to sleep." The man said, "Accept me, and I'll let you sleep." 

The night continued with Franz waking from the dream, trying to go back to sleep, seeing the man in the dream, and repeating the process. Finally, Franz said, "Fine, I accept you!" And fell into a deep sleep. When he woke, he was overjoyed and shouted to his mother, "I know Jesus! I accepted him!" 

And the boy who had five months to live, stood before us a man loving Jesus with all his heart, who radiated joy and peace. 

Liberty Academy

The first two days I went and helped at Liberty Academy, an international school where the interns teach and most of the Reeves kids attend school. The bus was broken the first day, so we got picked up in a truck. Um, safety standards in the US are just a touch different than Haiti, eh? This was a totally common sight to see. When many of of the kindergarteners got picked up, it was by a hired driver on a motorcycle. Can you imagine any school in the US releasing a kindergartener to a non-parent ON A MOTORCYCLE?

Reading to Judah and Josie Reeves

Attempting a Bible story with the kindergarteners. It was fun being in there because they were basically doing the same curriculum as Josiah's class at home.

One of the Kindergarteners, Annie. She was really smart!



One of the biggest blessings of working at the school for me was meeting Chantale. She was the translator/helper in the Kindergarten class. I got to learn about her life (she taught herself English using the Bible and a dictionary) and about Haiti in general, including an interesting story about voodoo:
I asked her about her father, and she told me he was dead. I asked how he died, and she said because someone killed him. I thought someone must have come to his house and stabbed him, but she told me that someone at his job wanted him to quit. So this person sent her dad a letter and when he looked at in the mirror, it was black. A few days later he got a fever, became very sick and died. They believe he was voodoo cursed.

Discovery Day

One of my BSF friend's church did a fun day with an egg hunt, petting zoo, pony rides, etc. They had a hot air balloon too, but it was too windy for it to stay up. But the boys loved to watch it inflate!

Feeding the sheep with Krisha

 

Josiah's first pony ride! He loved it!

Look at that cowboy! He said it was his favorite part of the day.

Hickory Easter Egg Hunt

Saturday we headed to the egg hunt put on by the city of Hickory. They did a great job! It was well organized and had tons of eggs.

 Micah did well, but wasn't really into it. Perhaps because he hadn't discovered there were Tootsie rolls inside. Nor had he discovered that he LOVES Tootsie rolls. 

 So stinkin' cute.

Josiah and Davis at the 4-year-old egg hunt.

 See the field filled with a zillion eggs? Josiah decided to only pick the bi-colored eggs. He said they contained the best candy. Not sure if it's a good or bad thing, but the child lacks a competitive instinct. 

Some of the eggs had slips of paper for extra "big" prizes. Davis was really kind and generous and shared one of his with Josiah. They were both very sweet and unselfish about the whole experience.

Since we have rain boots on...

Swinging with Kallie. This only works because Kallie weighs 10 lbs. less than he does! And yes, she's a year older.

Riding the train. Sweet boys.

 Matching eyelashes. Courtesy of the Moseley gene pool.

Easter Is Coming Soon

 

 

Following the Leader

Josiah started crawling around pretending to be some kind of animal. Micah followed suit of course. Loves his brother.

 

Little Big Boy

Seeing him in Josiah's old clothes makes me realize how much he's grown. Too fast.

The hat. Seriously. So cute.
By the way the child is obsessed with fruit. I left him playing sandbox for a few minutes while I went to the front of the house. I checked on him, and he was gone, but the door to the house was wide open. I found him inside in the chair sneaking grapes I'd left on the table. He regularly gets bananas from the pantry, brings them to the table and somehow wrangles them open to eat. He keeps me on my toes.

Swing time

Last fall, Micah was not too fond of the swing. But this year he LOVES it. He pretty much dissolves into a million pieces if he doesn't get to swing. Speaking of which, this child can produce a high quality temper tantrum when he doesn't get his way. It's quite a sight.

My favorite.

 

Audrey serving her brother and friend by pushing both! 

 

 

Ladybug Hunting

 

 

 

Puzzles - Little Boy

 

Micah really impresses me with his puzzle skills. It comes really easily for him; I barely direct him. His motor skills are so different than Josiah's at this age! 

Puzzles - Big Boy

 Josiah has had this puzzle for a while, but he got frustrated with it. We recently got it out again, and I was so proud at how he stuck with it and kept trying! He did really well! I would help just a bit, but he got most of it on his own. Puzzles like these are best done while brother is taking a nap or it's a really frustrating experience.

Kid's Club

 On Saturday, we got to help with the Kid's Club they held for all the children in their school sponsorship program. They had different stations for the kids to visit. Jonathan manned the basketball station.

 Lisa and Abby ran the beauty salon. 

 Cole and Ed did the always popular parachute activity. 

 

Doug and I ran the coloring station. The kids loved to color, and many were really good at it. 

   

These are some of the kids I hung out with during the literacy program. They'd been at the club early that day. The girls laughed and chatted with me even though I only understand a handful of words they were saying. We played the hand slap game, took lots of pictures, and they sang me some Christian songs in Creole.