Linnea Zernov
Bittersweet Departure
We are in the Miami airport now, and it’s a pretty
bittersweet feeling. I am sad to go but ready to be home, in my bed, in air
conditioning, good wifi, and hot water. Not that I need all of those things,
but growing up with them, it is hard to live without hot water and air
conditioning for a long period of time. All those things are things that I am
fortunate enough to have. When I think about it, those are things Haitians do
not have. They don’t have air conditioning, hot water, wifi, comfortable memory
foam beds, washing machines and automatic toilets. We take all that for granted
and act like we need all that to survive and be happy. For them, love is
enough. Many of the people I met and talked to acted so happy, and were
overjoyed with their faith and loved Jesus Christ. They didn’t need anything
else. They had their family, they had a roof over their heads, and couldn’t wish
for anything else. They don’t care that their toilets don’t flush
automatically. Its eye-opening; just think, if we all loved Jesus and that’s all
we needed, the world would be a better place. There’s a quote that I found
today and I absolutely loved it- “If you have been reduced to God being your
only hope, you are in a good place.” It’s the truth! If you love and believe in
the one true God, nothing else matters because he is the way, the truth and the
life.
VBS & SVT
I met a sweet girl during our last day of VBS who couldn’t be
older than 3 years old named Carrie. She never talked, but she would hold her
arms up when she wanted me to hold her, and would wrap her arms around me and
look at me with her gorgeous brown eyes. She wore a cute white dress that could
be a flower girl dress, with gym shorts underneath. I had fed her with a spoon
during lunch, and her sister, around 7 years of age, was sitting next to us.
Her sister was named Myeka. She didn’t speak English, but I could understand
what she said with her hands when she would point to something. She told me
that I had to feed her, as she couldn’t feed herself, and that I had to help
her open her bag of water and help her drink it. She loved her sister, she
would take her from my arms sometimes and hold her, and Carrie loved her too. When
it was time for VBS to end, and us to go to lunch, a random little girl came
and took Carrie from my arms. I teared up a bit, as she was so sweet and I didn’t
get to say goodbye to her, (or au revoir in Creole). All these kids were like
this too, they all wanted to be held and danced with and have their hand being
held. They wanted you to dance with them, and they wanted to wrap their arms
around you. So many kids would come up to you and just jump on your back because
they loved you even without knowing you.
During SVT we had met many families who were so happy to
talk to us. There was one in particular that loved Jesus, and loved going to
church. They were a big family, and their friends lived close so we met them as
well. The man worked at home, and he fixed bicycles, which he was doing while we
were there. I liked watching him take apart the bikes and clean them, it was
sort of fascinating. The son had showed us a Hillsong song that he loved, I can’t
remember the name of it, but I thought that was so cool that they knew who they
were. We loved talking to them; it wasn’t about Evangelizing with them; it was
about getting to know them and building a relationship in Christ with them.
Afterwards, they said they wanted to see us again and were happy to meet us.
I experienced so many great memories on this trip. I
realized what I didn’t need and what I needed most; Jesus Christ. I hope to
come back next year. I can’t wait to see how much of Haiti loves Jesus in the
years to come, because I believe that the entire country of Haiti can be
believers. From sweating from just standing in one place, or waking up with
creases from your blankets everywhere, or hugging 5 little Haitian children at
one time, they are all memories I will never forget.
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