Matthew 5:14 You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
This sign is the first thing you will read as you enter the gates at Living Hope Missions in Cape Haitian Haiti. It is a breath of fresh air in a city that is stricken with filth and poverty. Living Hope Mission is truly a light on a hill to the people in Cape Haitian. Missionaries Wilbert and Meg Merzilus run Living Hope and have dedicated their lives to minister to the people of Haiti.
This past March, Oakwood Baptist Church took a team of eight people to Haiti for a pastor and pastor’s wives conference. The purpose of our visit was to minister to and encourage local pastors and their wives who are spreading the message of Jesus Christ throughout the Cape Haitian community. In the few months of planning prior to the trip, I can honestly say I was not sure what to expect when our team arrived. As we began to prayerfully consider what our message would be to those who would attend this conference, a common thread began to weave throughout.
This past summer, a group of women at Oakwood came together for a Bible Study called “You Matter More Than You Think.” The study brought a message of encouragement to women that God loves them and is with them in all walks of life – whether it be a young mom raising a family who doesn’t think anyone notices or cares, a business woman climbing the corporate ladder trying to find her worth or an retired woman wondering what is left for the rest of her life.
Through our prayer, we soon realized how that summer Bible study paralleled the lives of Haitian women. Using the life of Joseph as an example, two of our ladies developed a message we would share. Much of Joseph’s life didn’t seem to matter, until you see it unfold into the bigger picture that God had planned all along. Enduring all the hardships transformed him, and he became a great man of God.
The other women and I put together crafts to reflect the lesson. Each Haitian lady made a colored glass mosaic picture frame in the craft session and took it with her as a remembrance of their participation. Inside the frame was a photo of each woman with her husband. Each fragment of glass around the frame reflected parts of her life – on their own, some might consider the individual pieces to be just colored glass, but when combined together, they created a beautiful piece of art.
The mosaic frame was a reminder to the Haitian women and a symbol for our lives as well. Like the individual pieces of colored glass, each trial and joy that we go through might not make sense at the time we are going through it. But they don’t stand alone. God already sees the bigger picture, and like the completed picture frame, creates our individual trials and joys into a life story that becomes a beautiful piece of art. Our lives do matter more than we think. The Haiten ladies also received pampering bags full of needed medication, personal toiletries and a special gift. The men received personal journals, a nice pen and selection of neck ties.
Our team…well we received so much more. The ladies on this team went on this trip with the expectation of ministering to these beautiful Haitian women and we left our time together being the ones who where abundantly blessed by this experience. The biggest lesson that we learned from our time with these ladies is this… They are women just like we are. They are wives, moms and friends who desire Gods will for their lives. Although there was a language barrier and our circumstances differ, we are all connected by one in the same Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The faith and strength of these Haitian women was something that we all learned from.
We left Living Hope with compassion in our hearts, not because of the sorrow we had for those beautiful Haitian women but for the lessons they taught us…They taught us to, seize the time we have together, don’t take what God gives to you for granted, and most of all love God with all of your heart, soul and mind everyday.
Remember, you are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden, and you do matter more than you think!
