I think everyone who ever has the opportunity should visit a Third World country, because it will absolutely change your life. As soon as I stepped off of the plane in Port-au-Prince, I fell in love. The sights, the smells, the food, the people — I loved every moment of it and couldn't believe God created such a beautiful country.
On our two-and-a-half-hour ride to Grand Goave, I went back and forth between many different emotions. It was so sad to see the people whose homes had been destroyed in the earthquake but amazing to see the beauty that had resurfaced from the wreckage.
My second evening there, I wrote in my journal: “So, I've been in Haiti for a little over 24 hours. How can we live such ignorant lives in America while there is such struggling so close to us? I am blown away by the things I see here. I just want to leave everything I have and make a home among these people. I have come here to … experience a fraction of what God's compassion for his children can do to a person.”
We made some really great bonds with our translators. It was so great to tell them about American culture and for them to answer our questions about Haiti. They each have such beautiful stories of how Christ rescued and redeemed them and now they translate — many of them knowing at least three or four languages. After talking with them I revived a new motivation in my heart to do whatever it takes to come back to Haiti. If that means working long hours at a not-so-glamorous job and doing without many of the “extra” things in my life that I don't really need, I am determined — God willing, of course — to raise enough money to come back to my brothers and sisters in Haiti.
As our plane took off from Port-au-Prince and we were officially in the air and flying away from Haiti, my heart dropped in my chest. Over a short week I came to fall in love with this small, and beautiful country in the Caribbean. Who knew that going a week without hot water, without air conditioning or much electricity at all, and going without most of the things we consider “necessities” here in the States would be one of the richest weeks of my life?
This country of Haiti — I'm not sure I even knew it existed until after the earthquake in 2010. But in seven days, I saw hundreds — maybe thousands — of faces, held hands and shared smiles. I came to be Jesus — to wash feet, but I was blessed far beyond anything I could ever do for any of the people of Haiti. These faces and these names come to my mind at various times. I am literally so humbled and challenged by the people of Haiti — people who know what it means to have to pray for their daily bread, who love each other and look out for each other and share with each other, who know how to trust God, and who absolutely changed my life. A piece of my heart stays in Haiti. Forever changed, forever blessed, forever humbled. Mwen renmen ou, Ayiti. I love you, Haiti.
Brittany Dearing, a student at Tarleton State University, served with Go Now Missions in Haiti.
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