What a whirlwind!!
The readjustment back to home after Haiti was interesting, to say the least. It took a good couple of weeks to really feel like I had my feet back on solid ground. I’m still craving that Haitian food like MAD but I definitely feel much more in the swing of life here. This has been a month of mission trips, to say the least! I feel like I just got home from Haiti and now I’m chaperoning a group of high school students in a week trip to NYC. Should be a good time, but I feel like its going to be a lot different in many ways than Haiti-
Obviously, we’ll be in the US. This is comforting but also intimidating. Its nice to know that we have access to things like hospitals and don’t have to worry about the foreign country aspect of things. However, I think in a lot of ways that makes this trip harder. Serving the marginalized heresits a lot differently in my heart. In a way, since Haiti is a third-world country, you expect to see poverty. You expect to see injustice. You’re taught to accept and love and not to judge. In many ways, that’s easier to swallow because you’re so out of your element in Haiti. But doing the same here in our own country feels a lot different. There is a sense that this “isn’t the way things are in America.” Clearly, it shouldn’t be like that anywhere, but somehow the poverty in our own country is a lot harder to accept and remain non-judgmental about.
Secondly, I’m going as a chaperone. The group of high school students I’m going with are great and they’ll do an amazing job. But its a lot different to go as a person who is not only responsible for myself, but for 10 other people. I’m excited to see the way that these students grow and change on the trip. In fact, in my journal last night, I wrote “I’m actually more excited right now to come home. I can’t wait to see the comparison of the 10 people we are taking on this trip to the 10 people they will be when they come home. I imagine there will be a marked difference in the conversations of these students from when we leave, talking about friends and school and summer, etc. and being so connected, to a week later after no phone/Internet/contact from home and the new experiences their eyes have seen. the conversations will turn to the people we’ve touched and the moods more reflective. what an amazing change to see in these students’ hearts. I pray for their experiences and their hearts.”
It will also be interesting to see NYC in a completely different light. We’re taking 1 day to do “touristy” things, but other than that, we’re staying in Brooklyn, we’re going to soup kitchens and shelters and geriatric centers…not the pretty stuff, but the real stuff. What an opportunity to step outside ourselves and see that part of NY!
As always, I ask for your continued prayers throughout our trip. We leave tomorrow morning, and get back next Saturday afternoon. Specifically, I ask for prayers for the students’ and leaders’ hearts, for the people whose lives we’re going to become a part of, for safety and good health, for our families and friends at home who will obviously miss us, and most of all, that we can continue to be the hands and feet of God and go where He is leading us.
“lead us to a place, guide us with your grace, give us faith so we’ll be safe…”
