ONE STONE AT A TIME

Cap Haitien is hot, and this is Hong Kong girl talking. 

It’s dirty. It’s desperately sad. It’s rattle your brain noisy. It’s crowded. The air is rancid with burning trash and a spirit of heaviness looms, luring us to take our eyes off what God has declared will be, on to what is. 
 
Cows, goats, pigs, donkeys and horses all pick at scraps in one rocky, barren field. There is garbage piled high everywhere you look. The roads are one giant pot hole. LOTTO shacks and cock fights rob them of what little they have. 

Jesus, “JEZI” is written in colorful letters on the front of buildings and on the sides of tap-taps, yet the emptiness in their eyes is a sure give away that they may know His name, but they don’t know Him.  
 
The need is overwhelming.
 
Haiti screams hopeless and impossible, yet in the midst of the insurmountable obstacles is Jesus, in Maurice.
 
As we drive – in first gear the whole time because of the horrific conditions – men holler out his name and come to the window of the truck to give him the traditional Haiti handshake. 
 
“MOOREECE!!!!!!  MOOREECE!!!!!” 
 
Kids dodge other vehicles and run towards the truck with outstretched arms and teary eyes when they realize their friend is back!!  Cooks, waiters and custodians at the hotel we are staying in for a few days, all know Maurice and are so happy to see him!!  The ice guy down an alley off the highway, the water guy where we fill up our containers with clean water, the sim card lady where we got our phones sorted out – everyone smiles BIG when they see Maurice!!
 
And I don’t know if there are enough adjectives to describe how our family in Nan Rasin reacted when he drove on to the property.  He is a Dad to the kids, a brother to the women and men, and a son to Grandma. The kisses, the hugs, the tears, the instant kibitzing, the questions about his family, the relaying of news since he’s been gone – Maurice is family.

He’s not just a white guy that comes and goes.
They know Maurice is there to stay.
Their lives would be unimaginable without him. 
 
He’s truly brought Jesus into their despair and it’s simply, beautiful.
 
When I stood on our jaw dropping property for the first time, I fell to my knees and kissed the ground. With happy, thankful tears rolling down my cheeks I thanked our God for His faithfulness.  As I had my first impromptu Creole class with Rosemary, my heart pounded with expectation for all that God has said will be!!!!
 
Yesterday, we met with the receiving company that’s looking after getting our 40-foot shipping container into the country.  The drive this office defies description in any language. It was so hot that both of us got sunburned in the truck.  It was so crowded that at one-point Maurice couldn’t drive anymore and was forced to back up into a sea of pedestrians.  It was like the parting of the Red Sea.
 
Maurice stayed with the truck while I hopped out of the vehicle and found the “office” – which at first glance looked like a storehouse of stolen goods from pillaged containers.  The guy sitting in an old beat up lawn chair pointed to a rusted out winding staircase and gestured for me to go up, so I did, and discovered a few desks that resembled an office.  I drew a ship with containers on it and his smile told me that he either thought my drawing was funny or that I had found the office.  I went with the latter and left to go get Maurice.  After a few moments Parola and her husband Riko arrived and we talked through the logistics of shipping our container from Canada to Haiti.  It will be shipped THIS weekend and will arrive in here in three weeks’ time – so start praying now and we’ll keep you posted!!!  By the time we got back to our truck a hawker had set up an umbrella over it and was selling her merchandise. 
 
To give you a snapshot into how bad the roads are and how congested the traffic is - our container excursion took us 7 hours!!  Coming home was like driving into an oasis.  The property God gave us is all that Haiti is not – it’s blissfully peaceful – plus we’re with Grandma and all her family!!!
 
While Maurice gave everyone some much needed food, I was examining two bedsores that Rosemary, the girl we sent the wheelchair to, has developed.  Her Mom has been rubbing them with hair cream mixed with Vaseline which needless to say hasn’t helped.  After a consult with Dr. Maurice, Dr. Sue applied some honey which has more healing properties than Polysporin and then I took her crippled hands in mine and asked the best Doctor of all to do what only He can do.
 
This is our prayer for all of Haiti because there are no programs, no creative plans and no amount of money that can heal Haiti.  Haiti is hell on earth where Satan has deceived millions of hearts into believing his lies, a place where He’s made The Name of Jesus mean nothing, a place where confusion and chaos thrives, and where its natural beauty has been invaded by a filth that a photo wouldn’t do justice…. but oh, I am so incredibly honored to be here!!!!  
 
I’ll be forever thankful that He chose to write me into this story, that He asked me to fan Maurice’s flame that already burns so bright, and that He has given me front row seats to an impending miracle that is going to put the eyes of the world on to our JESUS!
 
It’s where I was born to be, to do what we were born to do.
 
I’m home.
 
The nation of Haiti is not beyond God’s power.  He loves each and every soul in this place too much to not make the wrong right. 
 
What we see doesn’t matter. 
 
All that matters, is what our LIVING GOD has declared – and what He has promised is a revelation of His love and power and a supernatural transformation! 
 
We can’t even imagine how, and we don’t know when, but we KNOW our God never lies, never fails and always does what He says He will do, so until then we will keep being His hands and His feet to the lost, the lonely, the oh so broken and forgotten…
 
Robert Bruce was a Scottish missionary to Iran back in the late 19th century.
 
In one of his letters to his family he wrote, “I am not reaping a harvest; I scarcely claim to be sowing the seed; I am hardly ploughing the soil; but I am gathering stones.  That too, is missionary work...”
 
In the past few years, over 1 MILLION Muslim hearts have come to believe in Jesus as the final sacrifice for their sins, in the nation of Iran!!  Jesus is literally walking into rooms and introducing Himself!! Robert Bruce, although he only ever saw the harvest on his knees, cleared the soil, one stone at a time, in order for it to happen. 
 
Ah, what a privilege it is to dig out those stones in preparation for the unprecedented harvest that is for sure going to be reaped in the precious nation of Haiti!!!! 
 
It’s not easy, but it’s what we were born to do!!!
 
Your prayers make the difference between life and death.
Your prayers keep our eyes on what will be, not what is.
Your prayers fuel us with His strength and His love.
Your prayers push back the darkness.
 
Whatever you do, don’t stop!!
 
Clearing the stones,
 
Maurice and Sue