words

What's your word? Every evening, after the mission team has showered off a hard days work and devoured a delicious Haitian meal, we gather together to summarize the days events in a single word. This task has proved quite difficult as a million different words come to mind as I recollect my day. Words such as hope, love, loneliness, hardship, and joy fill my head as I try to pick the word that best summarizes the days activities. As our journey nears an end, a common theme amongst fellow short term missionaries has revolved around healing. As each of us took turns sharing our word, we talked about the struggles in our life and how Haiti has helped stich together the wounds in our heart. For me, Haiti has opened up my eyes to my faith and the world like I have never experienced before by healing me from my own personal faults and giving me newfound strength and vigor to go forward with my life and continue to perform the Lord's works of mercy with the fire of the Holy Spirit that has been ignited within me.

However, to summarize the trip, my word is not heal, but real. What we have done on the mission trip cannot be fully understood without coming down to Haiti yourself and fully immersing yourself to love and serve the people of this beautiful country. Words cannot explain what it is like to pick up a child who is mentally handicapped off the floor of an orphanage and hold them in your arms knowing that they will return to the floor as soon as you leave. Yet, words can also not explain what it is like when the child's tense, suffering body eases with each stroke of their arm and how a gentle smile can turn into nonstop laughter as you blow bubble after bubble into the air. Many words come to mind as we made our way around the dirt roads of Haiti, looking out of our Tap Tap at the still remaining remnants of buildings destroyed by an earthquake six years ago or the suffering faces of children living in shacks made from endless pieces of trash lining the streets of the city. It is one thing to read or hear about the suffering of others. It is another thing to directly participate in the suffering. Who knows, maybe through this suffering you will be healed from many of your sufferings. I sure was from mine.

Jacob Mischke