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It is less than two weeks before our team leaves for our trip to Haiti. Everyone on our team seems to feel the growing anticipation and excitement about the upcoming Exposure Trip. Our team will be working with Christian Friendship Ministries, which was started by a missionary couple, Oran and Arshaloos Bell, in 1947. They are the grandparents of the late Ericlee Gilmore. Recently, Chris Schultz gave each of us on the team a copy of the memoirs of Arshaloos’ account of leaving America and starting this ministry in Haiti.
As I have been reading Arshaloos’ memoirs, I have been impressed about their total dependence on the Lord to guide them and direct them. They left America with their two young children, $600 in their pockets, not knowing a word of French Creole, and set out for a lifetime of ministry. Their faith and labor in ministry has left a godly legacy for generations to come, and we are blessed to have a very small part in this ministry. Even though our trip is less than two weeks long, it is apparent that I need to have that same kind of dependence on Christ and be mindful of the hard work of those who have gone before me.
Lately the Lord has been bringing 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 to my mind:
But he (Christ) said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong (parentheses added).
Zechariah 4:6 is another verse with a similar message:
Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.
My prayer is that I would be content with my weaknesses as I serve in this ministry. Since I don’t know French Creole (but I'm trying to learn a few phrases), I don’t know anyone there in the country and I haven’t experienced the Haitian culture yet, this is really a recipe for disaster on human terms. But in God’s eyes, He has me right where he wants me – totally dependent on Him.
When I stop and think about it, there is no better place to be than in the care of a living God with infinite power and strength, which is more than enough to cover my inabilities and weaknesses. Furthermore, God has placed the Holy Spirit in our life when we have totally surrendered to Him. Yes, when I am weak, then I am strong - due to His strength and power and Spirit which will bring about His purposes in Pignon, Haiti.