September 17th, 2012
Well, I live in a house full of bloggers so I figure I might
as well attempt to write a blog. If you like it, then that is great, and if you
don’t, well that is okay too :) Here I go…
Today,
a very good friend of mine asked me a question. She asked me, “Why do you love
to serve? And you do it with such a positive attitude. How do you keep that
positive attitude even when times are not going the way you want them to?” I
feel like that is a very important question every missionary should ask himself
or herself.
Why do I love to serve? At first I
was at a loss for words. I honestly feel like I am just doing what God has
commanded of me. In this moment, God wants me here, in Haiti, serving the
people of Neply, especially children with special needs. To show Neply that we
should love on our kids, even the kids that have special needs. If you are
unaware of how people with special needs are viewed here in Haiti (for the most
part), I can assure you that it is a very different view from the United States.
I am not saying that the United States, however, has it all right and that every
single person views someone with special needs as someone with worth. But the
United States has come a long way and for the most part do their best to make
sure every child and adult has an opportunity to use their gifts in positive
ways. Anyway, back to Haiti’s views…Most people in this country see someone
with special needs and do not see them as having a purpose. Children laugh at
the kids that have special needs and call them crazy. Some people look at me
and think I am kind of crazy myself for trying to teach the children who are
“different” from other children. It breaks my heart to see this disbelief some
people have. But I also see it as a challenge.
I feel as though God is challenging
me BIG time right now. I am fresh out of college with an elementary education
and learning & behavior disorder degree. I have never run a class on my own
before. I have never helped start a special education program. I have never
been in a situation where I don’t know the language of the children I am teaching.
But the cool thing is… I get to start my teaching career in Neply, Haiti where
I teach children with moderate to severe disabilities that are some of the
smartest and most creative children I have ever met. And, I am running my own
classroom and helping design the future for special education here at
myLIFEspeaks. I am teaching with love and patience to my children because I
cannot always speak their language.
AND God has presented us with an awesome teacher, Judith, who works
along side of me as my Creole half and will then take over the classes when my
time is up here in December.
Judith and Malachi
Sometimes I go into my day a little
frazzled and I feel as if I am running around like a chicken with its head cut
off as I go up and down, up and down the stairs to get the kids to school. But,
when Judith and I begin teaching, God’s presence is noticeable and He begins to
ease my worries for that day. I see God working through Judith and me as we
teach our remarkable students. If all I can give our children that day is a
kiss on the forehead and to tell them, “Mwen renmen ou,” which is “I love you”
in Creole, I know that I am serving my purpose that day.
I not only want to teach our children
colors, letters and numbers, but I want to teach them that they have worth and
that they are loved not only by me but by their Heavenly Father. I am so
thankful that I get that opportunity every day. Our children here are smart,
adorable and worthy of our love and I want to SPEAK UP for them whenever they
are not feeling that way. That is my job and my purpose to serve them at this
moment in time.
So, if I am picking up a
child to love on them, smiling at a neighbor to say bonjou, or teaching a child
with disabilities the color green I am serving in the best way I know possible.
Through LOVE. One should always serve through love. If you are serving for any
other purpose other than God, then you have lost what it truly means to be a
servant. I pray that I never lose sight of this and serve without expecting
anything in return, or to receive any kind of praise, and that instead of
others seeing me, that they may see God. I am just an
ordinary person, living in Haiti, doing what I was told by my Heavenly Father
in the best way I know how. 
Oh and, I would like to leave you
with this prayer that comes to mind after writing this blog:
Lord make me an instrument
of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let
me sow love;
Where there is injury,
pardon;
Where there is doubt,
faith;
Where there is despair,
hope;
Where there is darkness,
light;
Where there is sadness,
joy.
Lord, may I not so much
seek to be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to
understand;
To be loved as to love.
Because it is in giving
that we receive,
In pardoning that we are
pardoned,
And in dying that we are
born to eternal life.
