Our second morning of our men’s mission to Haiti began with a team devotional on the full deity and humanity of Jesus. What could’ve been a very intellectual topic was instead an insightful conversation about how understanding Christ’s nature influences how we live today.
Our friend Jimmy sharing Christ
Several of our Haitian colleagues were sitting in on the discussion but had not contributed as of yet. As the topic developed, one of our friends was asked about what followers of Christ could do to demonstrate His love to others here in Haiti. His simple reply was to “do as Jesus did.”
And though the devotional ran its course without any of us making an intentional goal out of that comment, it unmistakably became our theme infiltrating every part of our labor for the Gospel. No question about it, each day of ministry felt like it was plucked from the Scriptures; as if we were 1st century disciples.
We went out to the masses living in the streets and fed them and shared the love and hope of Jesus with them. We walked through a tent city where over 250 families with more than 2000 children lived, and we met and prayed for the mute, the blind, the lame and the demon possessed. Yes, literally. We drew away with more than 60 pastors and trained them for ministry, emphasizing the priorities of knowing God and His word, evangelism and discipleship. We drew a crowd in a park and proclaimed Jesus Christ as the Savior and One True God. We held children with no parents and poured out the Father’s love. We sang our worship at the top of our lungs from the depths of our hearts. We cried with compassion for the broken and lost. And we prayed to the Redeemer to set the captives free from sin and death.
By conservative count during the week, well more than 20 people found salvation in Jesus Christ – one at a time, five at a time, ten at a time.
Not only Haiti was changed this week, but each of us as well. Each has a heart alive for the King, and a willingness to live more fully for His Kingdom. We return to our own neighborhoods and communities with greater vision, passion and more equipped for ministry. And we will never forget the lives of those we grew to love, friends and co-laborers in the Gospel, and the broken for whom God has broken our hearts.
In short, we did as Jesus did.
