Simply...Living For Him

Truly Living For Him-The People of Haiti

A post worth re-visiting.  This was posted back in January.  Today I was talking to my friend Linda who helped write this.  It has been making me think about how in this country we have access to anything at anytime, yet we are so discontent.  She said the people of Haiti worship each day as if it were their last, because it really can be.  And they are content to be alive, worshipping God, in all circumstances.  

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There is such a great example of simply living for Him when you look at the people of Haiti.

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They have suffered so much, yet are filled with the Spirit, worshipping God with ALL their heart.

They are truly rich in what matters.

Last April some dear friends traveled to Haiti on a missions trip.  The stories they came back with were humbling.  The pictures of the people were breathtaking.

What my friends saw was this:  The people of Haiti have so little in terms of material items.  Many lost everything.  They lost homes, possessions, family members, even any feeling of safety they may have had.  After the earthquake many people slept outside in tents for fear of a building falling on them.


Unfathomable to us.

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We have every comfort of home here in America.  We have way more than we need.  We have so much, yet we are continually looking for more.


How is this so?

We have every kind of food available to us at any time.  In Haiti, at the orphanage my friends stayed at the children ate mainly porridge and rice and beans.  Everyday.  

They wake every morning singing praises to God…

Do we?


Do we wake and with all our heart sing praises to God?  

No, chances are we put off our Bible reading until later, but meanwhile decide what to have for breakfast.

I usually wake up grumbling that my toddler kept me awake during the night…my very healthy, alive, toddler.

This past trip my friends went on, they made the children brownies.
….for the first time ever, the children had brownies.

Can you imagine?

No,  we can’t.

Now this isn’t a post to make you feel bad about all the wonderful blessings in this country.
We should enjoy what we have.


BUT…

Here is what we need to realize.  These people have nothing, yet they are so rich in their love for the Lord.  They have fire that burns for Him.  They truly worship and truly praise Him, even when they are suffering.

My friend Linda Marcus was so kind to share this.  It is a picture of the church in Bon Repos, Haiti which has been rebuilt….the members have doubled from 500-1,000 since the earthquake. Amazing!  God has worked mightily through a tragedy!

photo courtesy of Linda Marcus
I asked Linda if she would share about her experience with the people in Haiti.  This is what she had to say:

 “I first travelled to Haiti with Dayspring Ministries in April 2010, just three months after the devastating earthquake. Upon leaving the airport in Port Au Prince we were surrounded by miles and miles of tent cities. Some built out of tarps and twigs others out of just sheets and twigs. It was so overwhelming to see how the people were living, it was hard to process the reality of life in Haiti. We arrived on a Saturday and on Sunday morning we took a school bus, filled with the children from My Father’s House Orphanage where we stayed, to the church in Bon Repos. The church was badly damaged, especially the top floor, so they moved the church outside under many tarps and had a make shift altar made out of picnic tables and benches. As I began to see the tarp church fill up, I could not believe my eyes. The people just kept coming and coming, all dressed in their finest clothes, clean and bright, with smiling faces. The first song was How Great Thou Art, although I didn’t know the words in creole, I sang them in english as the tears streamed down my face. All I could think of was how much loss these people endured and how many of them were now living in a tent. To see their shining faces filled with love and hope as they lifted up the name of Jesus their Savior was life changing for me. Since then I have returned to Haiti this past November and have learned that the Light and Peace Church in Bon Repos has doubled its congregation from 500 to 1,000. Jesus is mighty to save and continues to draw people to Himself through this great tragedy. The King of Kings, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. How Great Thou Art!”




~Linda Marcus




I thank God for Linda sharing that, and I thank God for the people of Haiti.

How much we can learn about living for what is truly important.
How we need to put God first and worship and praise Him no matter what!

How having nothing materially does not matter if we have HIM.


Perhaps if we got rid of the clutter, the distractions, the stuff, we could more clearly see HIM and worship HIM.  

I truly believe having alot materially DOES NOT equal being blessed.  And that is evident in the people of Haiti.
We can surely learn so much from these wonderful people.


That is truly what it means to be Simply Living for HIM!

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SimplyLivingforHim


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