Perfect! It all worked out as expected…

As I planned many months ago, and as you probably already know, I am in the United States preparing for my next adventure.  What might surprise you is that my next adventure will look a lot like my last adventure.  If you are wondering how working to liberate restavek children in Haiti will compare to the academic rigor of a seminary education at Oral Roberts University, you are simply missing out on a few minor details.  Minor detail number one: I deferred my enrollment at the last minute.  Minor detail number two: I am returning to Haiti to work full-time for another 6-months to a year.

I know, i know… You’re thinking “You are soooo random.  When did all of this happen?”  First off, I’m not random… I am actually very, very calculated.  Perhaps my life calculator has more cool buttons than yours.  To you, this may seem very sudden, but i’ve actually been contemplating this decision since as far back as February (if you are still skeptical, I have journal entries to prove it).  Back then it was barely more than a “feeling,” just a thought in the back of my mind that kept telling me to “expect a longer stay.”  In my heart I felt that unexplainable “knowing;” I knew that something was on its way.  I knew that I was a part of a movement that would pick up speed quickly and somehow I knew that it would take me with it…  It was more than a sense of urgency.  I knew that my own destiny is wrapped up in it.  (Now that I say that, I can probably say that this started as far back as October with a word from Pastor Laffoon).

This may all sound weird to some of you, but I’m very accustomed to this feeling… this urge… this wordless “voice” guiding, pushing, and pulling me.  This voice is the main function on my life’s “calculator.”  In fact, nothing in my life ever equates without it.  With it, everything always runs smoother than a dream.  Over the months I have consulted friends and mentors about what I was feeling.  I discussed it with Joycelyne.  I shared it with my dad… but I mostly contemplated it on my own.  Then as the days went by in Haiti, I watched as everything else that I had ever intuitively “known” for the past four years rolled out before my eyes.  Just about everything that God has spoken to me since the beginning of college has been occurring all at once, and it is all so unbelievably connected.

Every day, especially in the months of June and July, I became more and more aware of the need to stay.  Not just for the Restavek Foundation, but for all of the other work that I have going on in Haiti.  The church is at a unique point.  My ministry toward a small group of children has reached a critical point and is ready to be transformed and expanded.  Even the business that I am starting (which I have yet to write about) requires my presence.  I realized that there was no way that grad school in this kyros moment was the best idea.  I would be leaving an opportunity that I would never see again.

At the time that the feeling became its heaviest, Dad began to say exactly what I was thinking: “Junior, I think that you’re leaving right when you should be arriving.”  He said it several times during the two weeks before I was offered a new position with the JRC Restavek Foundation.  For that reason and so much more, from the moment that I was asked, I knew the decision that I need to make, but I prayed a day or two on it.  I asked for council.  The result of both was the same thing that I “knew” all along.  I needed to stay in Haiti.

So, that’s the “new” adventure.  I will be staying in Haiti doing what I have been doing all along in all domains, but on a different scale.  As the new In-Country Direct for the JRC Restavek Foundation, I will be working on a new project to eliminate slavery in the very area in which I live and work, Petite Place Cazeau.  We will be working to see children uplifted and esteemed, seen as the valuable treasure that they are.  This goal is unbelievably connected to the work that I am now doing with the children in my church (who also, consequently, live in the area).  The work in my church is guided by a vision that was shaped by a series of prophetic experiences that lasted from August of 2006, until May of 2007, and an unforgettable dream that I was given on May 25, 2007.  The vision was formed over a period of 9-months… (Only a few of you know why this is so hilariously ironic and why it is important, but I wouldn’t mind explaining it to curious people who ask).  I don’t even have time to discus my new creole-speaking Puerto Rican Jewish friend, whom I met days before my return to the States.  After feeling an urgent compulsion from God, he is moving from Puerto Rico into Petite Place Cazeau to start a children’s ministry.  He stumbled right into our service on a Sunday morning…  Everything is coming together.  Even my Haitian-American co-worker is deferring a second year to stay on board.

God is working on something big here…  Yes… My life is very calculated.  I’m not always the one pushing the buttons, but believe me, it is so much more fun that way.  If I can give a word of advice to any of my Christian brothers and sisters that are struggling with a decision, I’d say don’t allow what you’ve heard from God in the past block out what God is trying to say to you today.  Chances are that your future is not as linear as your thinking.  Expect the unexpected.  Let go and take a ride!

Mountain Climbing with JRC – A Miraculous Journey

Wow… I thank God that my life is not boring.  If it were any less interesting, I may have had a bit more time to tell you more about it…. oh well.  As usual, again there is much to tell, but I’ll choose one thing from two weeks ago…

On the week of July 5th, Jean-Robert and I set out to visit a child that we returned home in the area of Jacmel last year.  She was a restavek for about a year and suffered unbelievable physical, emotional, and psychological abuse.  Her Gran Moun (owner) was a former neighbor of her family that had moved to Port-au-Prince.  This woman convinced the little girl’s mother that she would take care of her, put her through school, and make sure that her life was rosy, but every single promise was a lie.  This woman put the little girl through so much hell that she ran away.  She was found by the police, who took her to social affairs, who dropped her off at a girls shelter that we work with, and Jean-Robert took the 9-hour trek (one way) over the mountains, swam a river in the rain season, and walked for miles to her house, just to see her happily home with her mother again.  Then he took the long way back home in the middle of the night.  (For the record: There is not a man on earth with more compassion than Jean-Robert.  I thought that I loved people until he introduced me to a new standard).

We had not seen the girl for more than a year because she lived so far away.  We went to visit her because she was due a visit, but also because we were hoping that she would be the perfect candidate for the story that CNN was working on two weekends ago.  If you have seen the report (and if you watch tonight) you will notice that this “perfect” story was not chosen (mainly because we were crunched for time and could not go that far out of the traveling alone), but our trip made for an interesting experience, nonetheless.

We made our first attempt to Jacmel on Tuesday, July 7th.  (Yes, I said first attempt.  There were three attempts total).  We needed a big SUV to make it up the mountains, but we only needed the car for one day.  Big cars are on high demand in Haiti, so the smaller, local rental companies are often reluctant to rent out a big car for one day, fearful of missing a longer contract… so they charge you big bucks for it.  Everyone was asking more than we could afford to pay.  Everyone but this one man, whom we had rented from many times before.  It was a pick-up truck.  The car had its flaws, but  to me, it seemed healthy enough to make the trip (I had never been up those treacherous mountains, so I relied more on JR’s judgment).  We had already spent too much time shuffling around to get a car, so we were in a rush to get up the mountains.  We took off quickly after a cursory check up of the car.

We spent a good two hours or so in stop and go traffic, so there was no way for us to know the first problem that we uncovered until it was too late.  Once we started getting out past Mariani and Gressier we noticed that the car began to shake as we went above a certain speed.  We contacted the renter to let him know the problem.  He through out some sort of wild explanation and asked us what we wanted to do.  But we were already so far out that if we waited or went back, the trip would have been canceled.  In hindsight, that should have been our choice.  We continued on cautiously.  Not less than an hour later, our front tire went flat.  We got out quickly to change the tire only to realize that our trusty spare was also flat and balding.  Not only that, the jack that was in the car was no good… it didn’t even have its proper handle.  Someone had really neglected the regular check-ups on this car.  This was my first experience with renting in Haiti, and these are things that you don’t think of in the U.S., but I should have known better here.

Thank God we went flat near some sort of stone/gravel mining operation, and one of the men who worked there went downtown to find someone who helped us fix our spare.  It took a long time, but he did it.  By then, it was too late to go up the mountain, so we headed home.  We got a refund later that week and the man who rented the car to us may be in trouble with his job for being so negligent.  I felt really bad that day because Joycelyne decided to take a break from her studies to go with us.  It was her first road trip in Haiti and all she got out of it was fatigue, hunger, and “tet chaje” (a headache).  I’m sorry Sweetie…  Maybe in December.

We tried to rent a car the next day.  We ran into the same problem as before… no one wanted to rent it to us for such a short amount of time.  We decided to go ahead and get it for three days (the usual minimum), but when we decided to do that, we lost that contract to someone who wanted it for five.  It was like losing an ebay auction at the last minute…  There were no more of the super-big cars that we needed…  Nothing was in our favor that Wednesday, so Jean-Robert went home and I went on to try to pick up a package at the airport for my new business (there will be more on that headache soon).

Early on Thursday, we went in and got a Nissan Patrol for 7-days (since our director was coming in the next day), and took off.  That transaction went much smoother.  We checked everything on that car.  I flipped things over, punched the tires, took pictures… everything.  It was in great shape.  We went on up to the mountains without a problem… except for the fact that it was a LOOONG bumpy trip, and we left at an hour in which all roadside food was cold. (Bumpy is an understatement… perhaps “jerky” or “jarring” would be more appropriate).  We arrived seven hours after our departure.  It took us a while to find the family, but when we did, they were very happy to see us.  (Well, at least they were happy to see Jean-Robert… they didn’t know me yet).

We made a very short visit, talked to everyone, ate some grilled corn, passion-fruit, and drank some coconuts and headed home.  By then it was already past 5pm.  We had a seven hour drive to make home… so we thought.  A few hours into our trip jerky trip up and down the rocky hills, a miracle happened…  We suddenly arrived on the main road.  Jean-Robert and I just looked at each other.  How did we skip two hours of hill-climbing?  I thought that I had fallen asleep, but Jean-Robert’s confusion justified my own.  We proceeded up the winding roads to Port-au-Prince, still wondering about all of the things that we didn’t pass to get to the main road.  It is possible that we got lost, but usually when you get lost you don’t gain two hours.  Also, these mountain roads have very few turning options and very few entrances and exits.  I don’t know how we happened to find the “right one.”

As we drove into Gressier the car started to shake the same way that the pick-up did.  It was late, it was dark, and we had no tools… We had no choice but to continue.  We moved on through Carrefour and just as we pass a police checkpoint, we lose our steering.  Thankfully, we lost it on a straight away, and the car practically “parked” itself out of harms way.  So get this… we are in front of a police checkpoint, so danger is minimal.  We ask the police officer what they can do for us and they offer to take us to a hotel.  Then, when the realize that we had a rental car, they told us that we couldn’t leave it there or we would only find half of it in the morning.  By “chance” the police officer knew a mechanic in the area, and in that moment (11pm) the mechanic was sitting near the street with some friends joking around (Port-au-prince is usually dead asleep by 10).  In no time, the mechanic got under the car, replaced a bolt that got lost in the steering system with a random piece of iron, and we were on our way home.  Even after the quick fix we arrived two hours early…

The next day, Jean-Robert and I awoke to the reality that we could have died several times the night before.  If we hadn’t found the “shortcut” and continued on the rocky mountains, the bolt may have dislodged faster.  Then, if we had lost steering while navigating the treacherous curves, we could have driven right off of the edge and into the sea.  If our car had lost steering a mile before the police checkpoint, we would have been in danger and we would have had no way home.  There would have been no one there to protect us, we would have never found a mechanic, and by that time, a hotel (if we could have ever found one) was out of the question.  The whole experience was Miraculous.

I don’t know about you… but I don’t believe in chance.  I’m starting to get used to this “my life is in His hands” thing.  It makes me feel invincible.

If Only I Had the Time…

Last night, Joycelyne was sharing with me some of the details of a recent girl’s night out.   They went to a jazz/poetry club.  She had a lot of fun, and I got to hear every juicy detail (a very interesting night, haha).  It was so great to hear how her heart leaped, particularly, at some of these artists’ portrayal of love.  At every word she was responding, “that’s so true!”  I had many thoughts as she recounted to me some of the poetry that she heard, and how she felt like she could relate, but in the end one of my most prevailing thoughts was “Hey, I remember thinking/feeling the same thing!  I could have written something like that… If only I had more time to capture the many inspiring moments that pass every day through creative writing…”  I still write some poetry and music here and there, but I feel like I miss some of the most inspiring moments.  Part of me wishes that I could just be a professional artist… if I could make a living through creative writing, I would be thoroughly happy doing so.  But then again, I am also very happy with what I am doing and the path that I am on, so…

Today, a friend of mine invited me to see a concert where he was playing keyboard.  I stopped through in time to see one and a half of the opening groups.  They were okay, but the final (“star”) choir was very, very good.  Very good.  But I didn’t pay much attention to the choir though… I was watching the musicians, intrigued at the creative and intricate arrangements of keys, guitars, drums, congas, and a saxophone.  Every musician was so good at what they did, and most of them were around my age or younger.  As I watched them, I thought “I don’t play enough music… if only I had more time…”  If you know me, you know that when I see an instrument, and I want to play it.  I only officially play the guitar… but if I had the time, I would learn the keyboard, drums, bass, violin, bagpipe…. (yes, I said bagpipe… I came very close junior year).  As with writing, if I were able to play music 24/7, I would be thoroughly satisfied.

I find myself saying this for many more things…  For example, I downloaded a CAD program last year and started building house plans for fun….  I love it!  When I’m doing it, I could easily see myself doing architecture, as a hobby or even for a living.  I designed my friend’s house, which he is now building, and a friend of his bought a modified version of his plan.  I don’t really have time to do  plans right now, so now it sometimes serves as a procrastination tool.

I also think of this blog.  I was telling Joyce that I really think that I have one of the most interesting lives of many people that I know.  That’s not a proud or an arrogant statement, because I usually feel like I have so little to do with it.  I’ve simply been going along on a very exciting ride.  If I had more time, I’d write more about my interesting life… but maybe if I had more time, my life wouldn’t be as interesting.

I’m not sure what I am getting at here… I guess that one thing I’m kinda saying is that life must be more than simply finding something that you like or something that you are good at and doing it well.  I simply enjoy every bit of life itself and would have a hard time finding that ONE thing.  Another thing is that I hope that I will have several lifetimes worth of time in Heaven to do all of these things that I can’t do now.  And third, have you ever wondered if you actually have some of your priorities crooked and some of things that you want to be doing are what you should be doing all along?  I get that sneaking suspicion all the time.  I feel like my life is a balance that has seventeen arms… each chock full of opportunities, options, hobbies, and worthwhile endeavors.  I’m telling you, it’s not easy to keep that thing steady, but it is exciting.

Done Hiding in Your Country

Hi friends… by the time you read this I will probably be in or on my way to Haiti again… Yeah, yeah, I know, I know… I didn’t tell everyone that I was coming back to the states for a week and a half, but I guess, in all honesty, I knew that I didn’t have enough time to catch up with everyone that I really wanted to catch up with so I didn’t call anyone… No offense.  I still love you.  (on another note for those of you who have tried to call in the last few days, my phone died for good a few days ago.  Special shout out to Amauche who I have been thinking of a lot since I got here.  I will call you this weekend.  Promise).

So last week while I wasn’t hanging out with and calling you, I was hanging out with Joycelyne, so you can’t blame me now can you?  That was a WoNdErFuL week!  We also had time to catch up with some friends and our relationship mentors who really encouraged us, challenged us and helped us to grow.  It seems that we have nothing but joy to look forward to.

This week I’ve been traveling around with my boss(es) doing some business here in Ohio and also in Tennessee.  I had a few “top secret” meetings TN that you may hear about soon when the info is “unclassified,” then we flew to Ohio.  (I even got to steer a plane! Which was pretty cool).  We’ve accomplished a lot in a few days.  We are moving along with the Restavek Conference…  This morning I got to play the role of Maurice Sixto (I hope to post more info on him later in English) in recording his famous “Ti Sentaniz” in English.  Ti Sentaniz is the first notable public exposure of the atrocities of the Haitian Restavek system.  Its and old and powerful story that everyone in Haiti knows, but we believe that today is the day that it will have its full impact.  If we can work out the copyright details, I will post the English version for you after the conference.

I’ve met some cool new people on my trip, and even closed the circle of connections that led me to my current job by meeting the man who came to Haiti with nothing but my name on a sheet of paper and a suggestion that “this is God.”  There are more “this is God” situations going on in my life right now, but that is a part of the “classified” information that you may hear about later.  Well… time to pack.  I have much more with me now than what I came with… Ughhh!

P.S.  I  _ _ _ _ Joycelyne
P.S.S.  I really _ _ _ _ Joycelyne

The Most Important Work Has Begun

You may be wondering what is going on with the other work that I do… the work with the children in the church.  In short, the last few months have been great.  I am very pleased to see how our children’s ministry has developed over the last few years.  I still need more hands to help, especially men, but the groups that we formed are truly developing and taking on the character of the individuals that take part in the groups.  The children are learning, growing, and developing, and I am very happy.

However I spent most of the last few months observing and scheming (the good kind) for the future.  In a dream in May of 2007 God gave me a glimpse of what these children can and will become for Haiti and the world, and I am aiming for that mark, a mark that is much higher than most would imagine when they imagine the purpose and depth of a children’s ministry.  Without going into the dream, it would be very hard to explain, so I will say (with faith) that if you watch and read for long enough, you will see it for yourself (and I believe soon).  So that you can get a glimpse, read the following entry from my journal from a Bible Study that I did with a group of children yesterday.  This group is a group of hand-selected, 10-14 year-old “disciples” that I will have with me for the next four months, pouring into them everything that I know.

Yesterday was quite possibly the most important moment of my ministry so far.  I had my first Bible Study with my kids.  What I showed them was nothing “cute” or “childish.”  I shared with them deep spiritual truth.  The best part is that they really seemed to get it.  They really, really did… and they LOVED it.

We talked about the Purpose of Man within the scheme of creation.  (Light subject, I know…).  I showed them how each day of creation prepared the earth for what would come next.  Light was created first because nothing can exist without light.  Land and sea separated in preparation for a diversity of vegetation and creatures.  Vegetation came forth in preparation for creatures.  Seasons were created to prepare for creatures whose navigation and behaviors change in response to the seasons and times of the month.  Then came birds, fish, and creatures on the ground… and on the sixth day: MAN.

I had the children reflect for a moment.  They meditated on the scriptures and each came up with their own questions about it.  Most of their questions were answered by other children, not myself.  They were on a roll with these questions and answers, but I stopped them in order to ask my own question and open their eyes to something deep and wondrous.  My question: If everything that is created on a given day is a preparation for the days that would follow, then for what was man created?  All of the rest of creation was a preparation for something else… What was man a preparation for?

We chewed on that one for quite awhile, talking about how man was created to rule over the earth with God’s character (Gen 1:26), but I told them to think along the same logic that we applied for the rest of creation.  Day six was the creation of man, day seven was God’s day of rest… What are we here for?  We started to talk about God’s rest.  I pushed them on to debate amongst themselves “where can God rest comfortably?”  To GOD, what is so special about the heavens?  What is so special about the earth?  He created them both.  Can there ever be a place that is really good enough for him to rest in?  Then one of them made a comment that made me think of Isaiah 66:1-2:

“Thus says the LORD: Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”

They were on the right track, so I told them to listen closely and I let them have it…  “Man was created on the sixth day so that God could find a place to rest on the seventh.  Man was created for God’s pleasure and to experience the pleasure of God.” Their eyes lit up.  They smiled… their mouths opened wide, yet they were speechless.  They Got it… God opened up their spirits and deposited the first of many treasures into their hearts.  It was suddenly real to them that they were created to KNOW the God of all creation.

We didn’t talk much afterward.  There wasn’t much else to say.  It was a time to reflect.  I had them each pull out their notebooks and had them do their first Journal entry.  They wrote down their revelations and reflections for more than 15 minutes, filling entire pages, and their reflections were beautiful and so very sincere.  I told them that their journals were for their eyes only, unless they chose to share.  Two decided to share what they wrote, and suddenly I became the student (just as God promised in my dream).

“After what I just learned I can see clearly that God’s desire is to be at home in my heart.  That is why I ask that he forgives me of all of the wrong that I do.  I ask him for strength so that I can walk straight, and I ask for wisdom so that I can continue to go deeper into his word and learn what is pleasing to him.  I know that if I stay at his feet I will find all that I need, desire, and ask for…”

“After learning how much God did to prepare a place for me to find all that I need so that I can live well and to be comfortable, what else could I do but make my heart a comfortable and beautiful place for him to live?  It’s the least that I could do for a God that is so good to me.  I want to do all that I can to prepare my heart to be a home for him.  I know that with his help, I can and will arrive at my goal to please Him…”

At this, Brian Clark (a ZHOP prayer warrior who is here with me this week) congratulated them on “knowing more than 99% of the American Church.”  After they shared their reflections, we worshiped and prayed, just as we did before we began.  The first time was great, but this time as we sang “Lord, I give you my heart…” there was a deep, solemn sincerity that can only come from a revelation of the goodness of God.

So if you are wondering what I am really up to in Haiti… there you have it… yet somehow in all actually, only a small part of it…  Please pray for me and pray for my little ones.

Oh yeah… ORU

I am happy to announce that I was officially accepted into Oral Roberts University’s Masters in Divinity program earlier this month.  (Thank God).  God willing, I will start in August.  As for now, I am working through some of the financial details and looking forward to making “grown-up” decisions like renting an apartment or a home with people I have never met, budgeting, etc.  (Charles, I forgive you for abandoning our rooming plans and getting married… can’t blame you).  Pray for me, ya’ll.

If you know of a scholarship that someone like me might qualify for, let a brother know.

Peace.

Back in Action

Hi Friends!  Did you miss me?  In case you didn’t know, I spent the last week at Camp with the youth & young adults of our church in Peredo, just beyond Jackmel (down south).  It was a fun time, and I feel like I am a bit more connected to some of the young people in our church.  Still not as much as I’d like to be (on the whole, that is), but I forged some good relationships that I look forward to building in the future.  I also had a chance to show most of them another side of who I am, and what I am about, which was also good.

I hadn’t told anyone that my birthday was Sunday (Feb 22), but somehow they found out at the last second and had a quick makeshift 10-minute “party” for me during our normal evening festivities.  They promised something bigger for next year.  Many were surprised to find out that I am only 23 years old… younger than a good number of the campers who were there.  Though I don’t look it, many were ready to say 30+ because of my maturity in faith and in vision.  I pray that my youth will serve as an encouragement for them to grab hold of the Gospel and take their relationship with God more seriously.  We are often told that it is never too late, but it is definitely never too early.

Many thanks to those of you who sent me birthday wishes while I was gone.  I am so blessed to have so many friends who think of me and pray for me, even when I am a million miles away.  God bless you all!