Missions Blog

The Body of Christ Going Off Road in Haiti

August 2, 2015
Neil Pettit
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Our second work day began with a sense of anticipation. What else do you expect with a group of seven men on an Exposure trip!? Our morning devotion was on Acts 20:34-35, which Paul writes to the Ephesian elders on how he worked throughout his ministry in Ephesus for himself and his companions, showing that with hard work “we must help the weak remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'”

We reflected on how we work for the Lord – seeing how we are blessed by God to be able to work for Him during this time, and we ended up discussing how we are part of the Body of Christ. One body with different parts. This trip has been a beautiful painting of this truth. Each man on this team brings a different strength, talent or ability. We thanked God that our team truly functioned so far this trip as one body with each of our roles – and no matter the role played by each person, every role is vital for the body.

Our trip to the “Out Station” (think of a remote church site for those outside the main cities) was a true adventure. It is difficult to properly describe the experience of driving in Haiti. There have been comments such as “kind of like the Indiana Jones ride” and “if only we had monster truck tires.” The roads here are no joke. They are filled with folks walking with baskets, numerous children hanging out, motorcycles with three to four people on them, donkeys and cattle. The roads are typically just a dirt path, and today it led us through a river and up a rocky hill, which would excite any off-road fanatic. The trick is that we were in a 12 passenger van not engineered for a 4x4 jamboree.

The road was a great place to test the integrity of the van, and we ended up getting stuck in a never-ending muddy abyss (actually about 30-40 feet long). The amazing part was the teamwork as well as the willingness of a few random Haitians passing by to help us out. There were no attitudes and no one exploded. Long story short, a few of us walked the rest of the way to the work site (maybe half a mile), and the van was eventually pulled out and made its way as well. We were able to make a strong dent in the roofing project by utilizing the different strengths on our team. Some of us balanced on the rafters and others served on the ground with the materials and equipment. Again, the Body of Christ at work in differing roles and functions!

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