July 23, 2017

Bondye Fidel!
God is Faithful!

Liz, MH4H Missionary, has been busy in Haiti! Her parents have joined her for to see and share in God’s work. Hiking, church, the market, and a mishap in between, read more to find out about their journey. 

To read yesterday’s blog, click here.

After 20 months of living in Haiti and praying for this day, my parents are here! 

As the Haitians say, “my heart is happy”!
Not to disappoint, these last four days have been quite the adventure! And we have been moved in many ways.

What a joy it has been in little ways and big ways to see God in action; guiding us, protecting us, and teaching us with each step. 

As long as I’ve been in Haiti, I have talked to my parents about climbing Mt. Pignon and told them to get ready to climb it when they come! Ever since my parents made the decision to visit, they have definitely expressed their excitement for the climb.
Friday night, the night before the climb, Mom woke up from a dream and when she opened her eyes, no glasses on, she thought she saw a big, hairy, spider on the wall next to her!! *insert comment here about how deathly afraid of spiders my mother is* She immediately freaked out, rolled over and out of bed! Thankfully she moved to a sort-of sitting position as she fell and used her hand to brace herself from hitting her face on the tile, but in the process we think she may have dislocated her shoulder. 

She came to my room crying around 11pm telling me she thought she broke her arm!
After some assessment, myself, Christi, and Kalot (our lead security guard) took mom into town to have an x-ray. The conclusion was clear – no broken anything! Just sore from the jolt and probably some stretched ligaments. Gras Bondye! The Grace of God.
Kalot was so worried that this incident would spoil her trip and she would never want to come back. What he didn’t know (and what I told him later) is that as we were headed to the hospital at 11:30 that night, just as we left the gate mom said, “well, I guess this is God telling me I have to come back because I know I won’t be able to climb that mountain with my arm like this and I really wanna climb that mountain!” I was blessed by her attitude throughout the whole experience. We had a lot of laughs in the Urgent Care. 

Today at church Dad led us in some special music. I played violin for the first time in awhile and the other team members and Kendy helped us sing Lord, I Need You. My soul was refreshed. I love having Dad around, playing background music to life.

Singing for the church Liz Clarke and her father, Ken, performing together at church

Another thing I am loving is listening to Mom and Dad processing what they see…
When Dad was asked what he thought about the market, his response was, “Awesome! I just love looking at all the people and watching them work. This is fun for them, it’s like a party.”

Life at the market

And I would say he’s totally right. While the market can also be a filthy, overcrowded, hot, stinky, mess; it is also the one day a week when everyone comes out in their best dress, and when most vendors will make their biggest paycheck. Under the surface of what shocks our eyeballs and all other senses, there is an energy and excitement that I am learning to appreciate more every week. It’s an energy that gives strength to keep on fighting. 

And truly, fighting is the verb that most accurately describes the whole of Haitian life. There isn’t one part of their existence that they don’t have to fight for. Planting a garden, selling beans in the market, finding enough food to feed their families, let alone finding the resources to send their children to school and provide for the other things they need. For their faith in God. They fight against the powers and the principalities of darkness at every turn.
Keep us and Haiti in your prayers this week. God is Greater than spiders and darkness and His will is always for good things! 

-Liz Clarke