Report by Quinten and Casey Lyons
My goodness, where do I start? This trip has been such a blessing! So far we have completed 5 clinics and have treated 1,497 patients. But even more than that, our hearts have been deeply touched by the Haitians. Everywhere we turn there is a kind smile, a loving kiss on the cheek, a warm “Bon Jou” (good morning) or “Bon Swa” (good evening). Children flock around us to be held, talked to and played with. Older women welcome us in their embraces and kiss our cheeks. Our hearts are so full being here.
Sunday we had the privilege of attending church at Jerusalem I, the church beside our mission house. And in the evening we worshiped with our Haitian friends at Jerusalem IV. After the amazing service all of us missionaries, the translators and a large group of the Haitians rode together in the back of Gabriel II, the military truck, back to the mission house. There was so much singing and laughing and closeness and fun! It is one of my favorite times here this trip. I will let Quinten talk more about the church service.
Being here with our mission team family and being able to bring our girls here has been such a wonderful opportunity and blessing. Watching our daughter, Olivia, play soccer with the Haitian boys and blend right in with them makes my Momma heart proud….it is like you can just sit back and watch God do His work, melting away the boundaries and language barrier, and joining these kids who have nothing in common with so much love and fun. And our daughter Gabby is a magnet for little kids and babies…they can’t get enough of holding her hand, snuggling with her, holding her face in their hands. The love of Jesus shines out of her face on those little ones and it is amazing to witness!
Our mission team has become like family — each person carrying their own God-given talents and forming this amazing team to reach out to meet the needs of the Haitians. With even one person missing, the team would be so much less effective. I am thankful to be serving our heavenly Father by their sides…sweating together, laughing together, crying together, loving on our Haitian family together.
God is tugging on my heart, pulling in so many directions. There is a need here for more clinics and more nurses to lead the teams. Soon TEM will be breaking ground on a new full-time clinic. This clinic will need missionaries year round to help get it started and keep it running. The clinic most certainly will need increased and continued funds. But this village needs it desperately. We are a great temporary ‘hands and feet’ to serve these people, but the need is so strong for more consistent medical treatment. It takes over 2 hours traveling treacherous roads to get to Port-au-Prince and a hospital from here. And very few people here have vehicles to get there. Can you imagine having such little access to healthcare? There is also a great need for missionary support in a village down the mountain from us. And at the end of the road just beyond Jerusalem IV there are an estimated 10,000 people who have been untouched and unreached by mission teams and possibly the news of Jesus, because there are no roads to get there. I don’t know what all of this means to my life or my heart, but I do know I will need to pray to hear God’s voice and direction.
We are missing our Evelyn Mae so much and can’t wait to get home to her and our families, but leaving here will be so very hard. Also, Scarlett and Ezra….Mommy says she loves you and misses you! Sending lots of love from Haiti!
This is Quinten now. Jerusalem IV…WOW! When God designed man to worship him, this is what He had in mind. The passion that the Haitians showed while worshiping was truly breathtaking. The whole congregation joined in singing, clapping, dancing, and rejoicing in what God is doing in their lives. It was a worship like I have never experienced! Early in the service I prayed for God to open my ears to allow me to understand Creole for just this one service. I prayed and prayed and prayed for just this one opportunity to hear and understand all that was being sung and prayed. God spoke to me and told me that I don’t have to understand what is being said, just know that He is pleased with it. It brought me to tears hearing God speak to my heart and allow me enjoy this amazing time of worship.
At one point during the worship, the Holy Spirit grabbed me and told me to stand up. I do not remember standing up. I ‘woke up’ a while later with my hands held high to our Amazing God. I had to look around for a minute to realize where I was and what was going on. Casey told me that when I stood up I was shaking. I don’t remember any of this. I asked her when I stood up and she told me I stood before anyone else and that it didn’t look like it was me doing it. It was truly an out of body experience. The power and energy in that worship truly cannot be explained.
This brought me to think about our worship at home. I truly believe that we enjoy worshiping our God just as the Haitians do. I know that we feel the same Holy Spirit come upon us when we worship. I also know that we don’t have the reckless abandon the people here have. It made me so happy for them, but also a little sad for us at home. Why not let ourselves go and truly take in that time with the Lord? Why not celebrate all that God has done for us and allow that to show when we enter His House? Everyone thinks they want to come here and help the Haitians, but the realization is that they are helping us. They show us what it truly means to love God and be happy in His presence.
I don’t write this to make Americans feel bad about their worship. I write this to document the amazing experience our team had last night at Jerusalem IV. How awesome would it be to see our churches at home totally on fire for God? To see people showing their love for the Savior in an awesome and powerful way? I write this to encourage people to love spending time in their Father’s house. Worship Him in any way you feel led to. Don’t let someone else make you question your worship if you are truly enjoying the experience.