NovelSisters

watching, reading, and writing stories

Aug 23

Lessons from Haiti: United in Worship

by lydiamhill

Hopefully you’ve been reading my recent posts about Haiti, but just in case you’re new, I’ve been writing a blog post for each day of my recent trip to Haiti. I am now on Day 3!

Day 3: United in Worship

Haiti Church

So, I was finally in Haiti, and I awoke Sunday morning excited to see God at work. After a delicious breakfast of pancakes and guava juice, our group gathered to go down to the village. We were going to our first Haitian church service!

Now I was excited about this. I’ve been to a lot of different churches, and each one is different. Even the ones in America can vary drastically from each other. I’ve been to Lutheran and Nondenominational, mega churches, and small cowboy churches. I’ve even been to churches in other countries like Mexico and Germany. I’ve heard sermons and songs in English and Spanish, German, and Latin. But I’d never been to a church service in this little Haitian village.

I went into this knowing that Haiti is different. This wasn’t going to be some grand cathedral or well manicured building. It would probably be pretty small and basic. And indeed, when we had walked the five minutes to the church we found a small wooden building with no AC, and a lighting/sound system that was supported by a finicky generator. Services didn’t start exactly on time, or have a specific ending point. But it was still a church, still a gathering of Christ-followers, and still a place of worship.

We stepped inside and quietly found some seats on wooden benches. Now I don’t speak Creole and even the few words or phrases I had learned before the trip weren’t very helpful, but immediately I started to engage with the service. God provided a visiting pastor that also spoke English to communicate the basics of what was happening in the service. I was able to follow along in Philippians as the pastor taught, and even though I couldn’t tell what he was saying specifically, I knew it was true.

Then the church began to sing, and it was amazing. I knew it was worship; beautiful worship that pleased God. I was amazed at how beautiful and loud the worship was, without all the fancy equipment we use in America. I didn’t know the words, though sometimes I recognized the tune, but I was able to join in with their worship. I longed to sing with them, even though there was no projector or hymn book to lead me. Eventually I even tried to sing along by following the girl who was leading the songs. She would sometimes sing the next word or phrase and I tried to mimic the sound with the congregation.

But whether I sang or not, I was still worshiping God in my heart. I was so in awe of God and how His love reaches to every corner of the globe. I think I got a glimpse of what heaven will be like; there are no barriers, no walls of prejudice or pride, and people from every tongue and nation will just worship Jesus together.

And I happen to have a video of some of the songs that were sung. So feel free to watch, and join in worshiping God too.

So what did I learn from all this? Well I learned that there is a unity in God’s church that cannot be broken. No matter if we are white or dark skinned, speak Creole, Spanish, or English, rich or poor, we all belong to God and the greatest thing we can do is worship Him. As I took part in the communion, I remembered that people all around the world were doing the same thing; remembering what Jesus Christ has done for us. He really is the one who unifies us.

Haiti Stories

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Aug 20

Lessons from Haiti: The Hidden Joy in Waiting

by lydiamhill

In case this is new for you, I am currently posting a series of blogs that detail my recent trip to Haiti and the lessons I learned from going there.

Haiti bus

Day 2: The Hidden Joy in Waiting

Building on the lesson I learned from traveling on the previous day, I awoke Saturday morning prepared to meet every obstacle with prayer. I was also bubbling with excitement that today we would finally make it to our destination. We arrived at the Florida airport without a problem, then found our way to an empty check-in station. We discovered that we couldn’t check in till the plane from Haiti landed, since the people who were on the plane, were the same ones who would check us in. This began one time of waiting, which would be repeated throughout the day, and in actuality, throughout the trip.

However, during this time of waiting, or delay, I was pleasantly surprised to find a source of joy. You see, in the present day culture of America, there is a lot of emphasis on instant gratification. Google, texts, YouTube, Hulu; they all let you get what you want now. Whether it’s the answer to a question, or a missed episode of a TV series, there is not a lot of value in waiting. But waiting in the airport, I found how nice it is to not be in constant motion. On this trip I purposefully left my cell phone at home, so I could engage with what was going on in the moment. And during this time of waiting, things began to happen.

Other passengers, also taking plane to Haiti, were gathering in the airport, and we began to strike up a conversation about why they were going to Haiti. We found out one family was hoping to adopt a child from the country and that they were going to visit the orphanage where the child lived. And we were also able to share with them about our purpose in going; setting up a radio station for the area, and running a soccer camp. We even prayed together, even though we had just met these people. It was a beautiful moment.

Once the plane landed, we began to move again, proceeding from check-in, through security. However, God wasn’t done with our time of waiting. He soon provided another opportunity to be still. You see, we were planning on taking this huge 80 pound box with us to Haiti. It had equipment for the radio station we were setting up. However, the airline wouldn’t allow such a heavy, and cumbersome box aboard. So a few team members stayed behind, in the check in area, to wait for a friend in Florida to pick up the box. The rest of us proceeded through security and to a Burger King for a hurried lunch.

Then, it happened; a security threat. There was a suspicious bag left at the check in area, and all of the people there, including our team members who had stayed behind, were forced to evacuate. Now our team was separated, and our flight was supposed to leave in 15 minutes! Remembering what I had learned yesterday, we all stopped to pray that God would take care of us, and bring our team together again.

We went to the gate for our plane, and were quite relieved to hear that our plane would not be taking off without our other team members. In fact, the people from Haiti who were running the check in were also stuck with everyone else who had been evacuated. So  we had another large chunk of time to just sit and wait. It was another delay. But also another opportunity. And so we began to share testimonies in our group. We shared stories of how we had started following Jesus and gotten to the point that we were now at in our lives. It was a real time of team bonding. And part way through, the few team members who we had left at check-in, appeared! God had provided a way through the airport, even with all the security block offs.

Eventually we were able to board the plane, and fly to Haiti. I had been to Haiti before, so the 3rd world country was not surprising to me. The biggest lesson I had learned that day was: God can turn times of delay and waiting into times of joy as community and relationships grow.

Haiti Stories

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Aug 19

Lessons from Haiti: A day of frustrations

by lydiamhill

So I’ve decided to do a series of blog posts about my mission trip to Haiti. I know it’s not what I usually write about on this blog, but I figure I can tell some fun stories, and who knows, it may turn into a novel or book someday. I’m going to break up each day of the trip into a blog post and hopefully come up with one lesson that I learned on each day of the trip.

So feel free to leave comments, suggestions, or any of your own stories or lessons you’ve learned from your own adventures.

Haiti airport

Day 1: A Day of Frustrations

Early Friday morning I set off to the airport to meet the group of 15 people headed for Haiti. But right off the bat, I was hit with distractions, or frustrations really. I hadn’t slept well the night before the trip, or really the whole week leading up to it. In addition, my sister had woken me up, due to a panic attack in the middle of the night. So I was… not rested. In addition, I’m a very time-oriented person, so when I was unable to get to the airport at 8:00 am, and in fact was the last of the group to arrive, I found my attitude about the trip as a whole taking a turn for the worse.

After hugging loved ones goodbye, we set off to check in at the baggage check. And then another unforeseen event occurred, our connecting flight to Florida, leaving from Dallas, was said to be delayed and we were told we would have to take a later flight. This would mean that instead of getting into Florida in time for some dinner and chill time, we wouldn’t get in till 9:30, and probably wouldn’t get to our hotel till after 10pm.

This frustrating stream of events was getting under my skin, but I took a minute to relax and reminded myself that none of this should be unexpected. Mission trips are rarely a smooth process. I released my anger to God and went on with the group, passing through security and making it safely to Dallas for our connecting flight.

When we landed in Dallas, I was surprised and excited to find out that the original flight we were supposed to take was not delayed after all and that our group was in the process of being transferred back to our original flight. Things were looking up, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I grabbed some girls from our group and just stopped to pray. In the middle of the airport we gave the whole situation into the Lord’s hands, and asked Him to show up.

After that moment, I stopped worrying. And God did show up! Our flight was switched without any more hassle, and our whole group made it to Florida in good spirits.

However, the day was not over, and God provided one more lesson in providence before it came to an end. I know it sounds a little weird for a group on a “mission trip” to go out to a fancy restaurant, but we did. We went to the Cheesecake Factory of all places. I’d only been once before in my life, so this was a big treat. However, going to any restaurant on a Friday night with 15 people means a long wait. And I mean a LONG wait. We were told it would take about an hour, but when that hour turned into two hours, all of us were experiencing some impatience.

Now I know this is a mission trip, and I should be expecting the unexpected, but we were still in America. We weren’t in Haiti at all, and this was difficult. We were all starving by this point, one team member even said he was close to “angry bear mode.” But still we were waiting. I started getting anxious thoughts about not getting enough rest for the morning, or maybe even the restaurant closing before we could get something to eat.

And that’s when we did it, finally… it really shouldn’t have taken us this long. We prayed. We asked God to open up the tables so we could eat. It’s amazing what God will do, once you actually stop to ask Him for something. Within minutes the tables were clear and we were being seated.

And that’s the lesson I learned from day 1: Come to God with your problems, and don’t try to handle them alone. Suddenly you’ll find that your frustrations will become glimpses of God at work.

Haiti Stories

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Aug 12

A Whole New World

by lydiamhill

haiti mountainThanks to my good friend who has an amazing camera, here is a shot from the top of a mountain in Haiti. Although the country is very poor, it is rich in beauty.

Even the language I found very beautiful. I went to a church service where I heard American worship songs, but sung in Creole, and I kind of liked the Creole versions better. They just sounded so… I don’t even know how to describe it. I guess the words seem to rhyme more easily in Creole so it was more pleasant to the ear, plus the people singing were so expressive. They sang loudly and with emotion, it was a powerful experience and one I won’t forget.

One more thing I want to mention from my adventure. I always hear of “the language barrier” and it is a real thing. There were definitely times I wanted to communicate something and just couldn’t. But there’s also such thing as “the universal language.” A smile is a smile wherever you go, a laugh is a sound of joy in every country. There are things you can communicate without words, and friendships that can be formed despite a meager barrier of language.

I know this post is a bit scattered, but I just got back from my trip and I’m still adjusting to having internet again, and screens, and phones, and all those distractions that were so blessedly absent during my trip. It takes some getting used to, being interrupted constantly.

I’ll try to post again soon.

Haiti Life

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