Flying and Feelings

To be honest, I have been struggling with numbness for the past few weeks.  I would say it started as I ended my job in NC.  And I have so wanted to be excited for this trip.  I wanted to be sad to say goodbye to family.  But instead just a bunch of numbness.  I thought at first it was just me being busy with work/the accident/leaving NC/seeing family/packing etc.  And these things too up too much time so that I didn’t get the chance to be excited.  But it didn’t go away with the circumstances.

During our last bit of training before Launching out, I was in prayer during worship service and I felt like God was saying that my excitement for this coming adventure would come as I shifted my mindset to one of thankfulness.  In an attempt to do this practically, I started to make a list of 100 things I am thankful for.  I was sure that by the time I hit 100, I would feel again.  But alas, 2 days of compiling and I didn’t feel.

After a night on the floor at the Atlanta airport, I found myself on a plane to Miami for a layover.  When we were above the clouds, they spread like a sea below us.  Then, the sun slowly made its way over this cloud horizon and set it ablaze like a molten landscape.  I thanked God for that…and I FELT!  Not for long, but it was good.  I felt that God had such good things in store for us.  The second time I felt today was as we were landing in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.  As we approached the runway we passed over little shacks with rusted roofs and tent cities.  It hit me…this is not something I have done before.  This isn’t some teach-abroad, or study-abroad, or pleasure trip, or even a short term mission.  This is an opportunity to be invited into the homes and lives of people to make a difference for the Kingdom.  It both terrified me and honored me.

Here in Haiti, we are working with a wonderful ministry that is completely sustainable.  These people provide aid to Haitians and teach to step up and run the ministry.  Subsequently, the people do not become dependent on the ministry but instead are able to live out the best life possible.  We begin ministry tomorrow.

Tonight we attended a worship service that the locals led.  And though I didn’t understand much but I sure felt the spirit.  I lifted a hand and sang out:

Ozana Ozana
Anyo a imole
Ozana Ozana
Jezi mouri I’ leve anko

Hosana Hosana
The lamb that was slain
Hosana Hosana
Jesus died and rose again

I found that worshiping with believers from around the world with a language and cultural barrier is POWERFUL!  And we got to meet the church members and chat in a mix of Creole, Broken French, and English.  A storm rolled in and lightning painted the sky.  I thought about all the to-dos that should be done today…but that would have to wait as I spent the cool evening laying on the roof of our dorm, listening to the thunder mix with the sound of praise music on the guitar.  I think I got a glimpse of the Kingdom tonight.  Amen!

If you want to read about our first day of ministry please visit my personal blog at http://carolineritchey.theworldrace.org/