I have never had to worry about where my next meal was coming from. I have never had to worry about being taken to an orphanage because my parents didn’t have money to take care of me. I have never had to worry about whether or not the water I drink is clean. I don’t live in constant fear that I will get a tropical disease or the common cold that turns into so much more because my family can’t afford medicine or the clinic is too far away. These worries were never real to me until I spent a week in Haiti.
Many people on our campus have spent time on mission trips and know the heartbreak that you feel when you look into the eyes of a child or adult who faces these problems every day. These are not scenarios that could happen; they are situations that they are living through. You come back feeling different. Sometimes, it’s an emptiness -- like it was for me. You wonder how in the world you can go on with your wonderful life when children won’t see another meal for days or weeks. Other people come back on fire to set things right in the world.
You learn a lot through the beautiful, and sometimes trying, experience of traveling to a third world country. You learn how to cooperate with others, how to break down a language barrier to share the love of Christ, and how to share hope with the hopeless and pray for those who have felt undeserving for far too long. You will find that in all circumstances, God is worthy of our praise. I met a group of 100 orphans who were under the supervision of a corrupt leader at an orphanage. No one was really sure what he did to those kids, and with those kids, but everyone knew it wasn’t good. I had the opportunity to sit among these children and listen to them sing, “How Great Thou Art,” from the depths of their soul. The children would share their sandwich that we brought them with another child who hadn’t gotten theirs yet.
I pray for these families, the children, the caretakers, the corrupt government and leaders, and all those who dedicate their lives to serving God and the people of Haiti. I have pictures all around my dorm to remind me that these families aren’t just faces but real people that love, hurt, and mourn just like the rest of the world. I now live my life thankful that I live in a country where I have rights and come from a family that can provide for me, because it’s not just in Haiti that children go without. I am constantly coming face to face with God in places I didn’t see him before.
Spending time with the diseased, broken, orphaned and widowed, corrupt, and downtrodden is one of the most fulfilling and emptying experiences I have had in my short 19 years. You will come back tired, worn out, sunburnt, and spiritually drained, but you will never regret your time spent in a developing nation.
