I've had this blog in my mind for quiet a while, but haven't sat down to write it. I don't think my heart has been fully ready to share. I'm currently sitting on a plane flying back from a family vacation to the Dominican Republic. Being on the same island as all the dear little ones but not being with them caused my mind to flood with memories of their precious faces and I can't think of a better way to cope than finally share bits and pieces of the three unforgettable encounters I had with the Gospel during my time in Haiti. These are just 3 profound (to me at least) ways I learned more about my Loving God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
I will start with Aaron. A few weeks into my stay in Haiti Aaron began running a fever. The nannies were giving him Tylenol and the fever would subside, but within a few hours it would return again. When I found out about his fever his temperature had been fluctuating for 2 days. I then began monitoring it every few hours and continuing treatment with Tylenol. The 3rd day I was on the phone with the Dorothy, the Director of Faith, Hope, and Love and mentioned Aaron's fever to her. She immediately responded that I needed to call the doctor the next morning. Aaron has sickle cell anemia and anytime he has a fever it indicates infection and the doctor needs to be immediately made aware. Dorothy knew this, but due to my unfamiliarity with sickle cell and Aaron I hadn't thought to call the doctor. Early Monday morning when I called the doctor she told me to immediately take him to the hospital. After the nannies taking 30 mins to get acceptable clothes on him for the hospital ( Haitians are very proud of how they dress and wouldn't dare let him out of the house in anything less than his Sunday best! One of my many cultural lessons) Samuel and I took him to the hospital close to our house. We were greeted with 2 wonderful doctors who were in fact familiar with his specific form of anemia (a taste of the goodness of The Lord)! Aaron was admitted to the hospital quickly after being assessed. The first thing ordered was a sample of his blood to determine his Hemoglobin and Hematocrit levels. The young technician soon entered to draw Aaron's blood. To say this experience was traumatic was an understatement! Due to Aaron's anemia finding a vein was difficult. Not to mention it didn't appear that she knew what she was doing! Drawing Aaron's blood took at least 5 minutes due to the technician having to access different veins throughout his arm. Aaron's was screaming and crying and his little bottom lip was quivering. As this was happening I held his beautiful face in my hands, wiped his tears, and sang Jesus Loves You to him. At one point during this process the Spirit spoke to me so clearly. I was reminded of God watching Jesus be crucified, spat upon, pierced, and just plain gruesomely tortured. Not only did He watch this, He sent Jesus, His Beloved Son, for this purpose. As I held Aaron face, I couldn't imagine how God did this. I had only known this child a few weeks and I was beside myself hurting, angry (because the girl was terrible at her job and hurting one of my babies!), and completely helpless to change Aaron's situation. Wow, once again I stood amazed at the sacrifice and love of God for us.
Aaron's story doesn't stop there. The Lord used him to show me more of Himself. When the blood results came back the doctor informed me that Aaron's hemoglobin and hematocrit were low (13-for those of you who are medical) and that Aaron needed a blood transfusion, if he didn't get this soon "his heart will stop." Yep, those were her exact words. The doctor informed me we needed to go across town and pick up blood at the blood bank and bring it back. This was quite foreign to me because at the wonderful hospital I work at in Birmingham (Brookwood -of course!) when people need blood the nurse just goes down the elevator and gets some. Samuel (our wonderful driver), Sally (another member of the FHL staff) and myself were swiftly on our way. It took 45 mins to get to the Haitian Red Cross and once inside the waiting area completely filled. After arriving the representative informed us that in order to get blood someone was going to have to donate it. Oh this would be an appropriate time to interject my previous comment post Aaron getting his blood drawn. Keep in mind, I was furious at the woman's poor skill level and that it caused him to be upset. So I told Samuel " I will NEVER get a needle stuck in my arm in this country unless I am deathly ill and at that time I better be on a Med Jet flight out of here!" You better believe I meant that when I said it also! Upon hearing the news that someone had to give blood I quickly asked Sally and Samuel to donate both of them said no. I then decided to wait and hope they would give us blood anyway. I also called Dorothy and asked if she had any advice. I informed her that when I tried to give blood in the past that my iron has been low. So my donating was out of the question. Thank goodness! After a horrible experience donating blood in the 6th grade I vowed never to do that again. Dorothy quickly requested help through Facebook, but as time ticked and the doctors words reverberated in my head I couldn't just sit there anymore. "His heart will stop." I walked up to the representative and told her I was willing to donate. The whole time PLEADING with The Lord for my iron to be low. It has been in the past so it should be here, that's what I kept telling myself. At least I would rest my head at night knowing I tried. After the finger prick I was quickly notified that my iron wasn't low. Inside my head I was freaking out. What am I doing? Giving blood in Haiti? What if I get a disease? My mom will kill me (she's all about things being sterile)? Still begging The Lord to stop this somehow. Before I knew it was way reclined in a chair and was looking at the needle about to take my blood which happened to be much larger than what is used in the states (this didn't help the situation ). Sacrifice. That's a piece of the gospel that became real to me with this experience. I sacrificed security and comfort (potentially my health) for someone else. This lead my heart straight to praise because I recalled the largest sacrifice ever made. Jesus gave HIS LIFE for us. Everything He has to offer with no promise of anything in return. He laid it ALL down just for me & YOU. Thank you Jesus! My experience doesn't hold candle to that of Christ's but this real life experience lead me to appreciate that sacrifice in a new and fresh way.
The powerful child pictured above is also known to us as Sha Sha. The sign he is holding in front of him was one that I made when praying for him. You see the profound words Jesus gave me for Sha Sha. Anyone who has met him would agree with it 100%. He is gifted, brilliant, and has a contagious personality! One afternoon Sha Sha came home from school and played a second with the kids. I asked him to change out of his school clothes and thats the last anyone saw him for about 2 hours. 1 hour after this exchange I started looking for him to get him to help me translate. His English is better than anyone else in the house. If couldn't find him and neither could the nannies. After the initial search I thought for sure he was playing a trick on me which wouldn't be uncharacteristic of him, then the kids helped us look. After a through and lengthy search. One nanny and myself went outside of the gate and our sweet neighbor across the street said he had seen him go left out of the gate and down the street. Panic set in. I don't know my way around, I can barely communicate simple language, and I don't know where he would go. The nanny said we should check the soccer area down the street, some of his school friends play there. No Sha Sha. We then checked the nearby church playground. No Sha Sha, then we journeyed on to his school. No one answered the gate. As we walked away his principal came out of the gate. Mr. Nickson quickly joined the search and drove us around the neighborhood. We looked at the nearby tent city because I recalled him saying recently I'm going to live there, I am to old for the house. No Sha Sha. Mr. Nelson also began calling older kids in the school and tell them to look for him. After 45 mins of searching one former student called Nelson back and said they had him. First thought, Thank you lord! What a HUGE relief. Second thought, he deserves a spanking, this wasn't the first behavioral problem we had had with him. (keep in mind I had never spanked a child). Mr. Nickson agreed he needed a spanking. After retrieving him, Nickson spoke with him and sent us home. I was very upset with him. He's brilliant and he knows better than to do this! After entering the gate I made him sit on the stairs and we began talking. I asked him what he did, why he did it, who his choice affected, does he think he should be punished,what should that punishment be, and so on. During our conversation The Holy Spirit quickly prompted me to talk with him about justice, mercy, and grace. So not punish him, but rather show grace to him. Sha Sha was asked to clean up the mess he made and apologize to all those that his actions affected, but wasn't punished. Isn't this a tiny picture of the Gospel? For the wages of sin is Death. Sin has the consequence of death, but rather God chose to bless us with grace unending through his son's death, burial, and resurrection we don't have to die, but live eternally! Hallelujah! Praise you Lord!
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