Feet

Since summer school doesn't start until next week, this first week in Haiti was spent preparing, cleaning, helping with various jobs, and participating in the other parts of the ministry at Christian Light School.  One of my favorite parts of the ministry is the "baby feeding" program.  The school was built to support the families of the ravine, which means helping them from infancy to adulthood.  The baby feeders go out each morning to bring food to the children in the ravine, weigh them, and provide medical care as needed.  This week we got to go out with the baby feeders and distribute shoes and clothes to the infants and toddlers.  

The children and their families were thrilled with the gifts.  Sweet little faces smiled happily as their worn feet sunk into the comfort and protection of a sturdy pair of shoes.  For many of the children living in the ravine, good shoes and clean, comfortable clothes are not an assumed part of daily life.  How amazing it is to see these small and simple gifts build bridges and open opportunities for relationships with the people in this community.  

The vision of Christian Light ministering to the community echoes the call we are given throughout the Bible.  God calls His people to be His hands and feet, to be His body in this place.  He calls us to be a light on a hill, His body in this world.  We live His kingdom now even as we look forward to its fulfillment in eternity.

A few years ago a video series called For the Life of the World: Letters to the Exiles was shared with me.  It is quirky and artsy, and I love it because it points out the greater "meta-narrative" of the Bible.  The work of Christ on the cross is not simply a story of individual atonement and sanctification, but is a story of God's plan for the redemption of the whole of His broken creation.  This story calls for His people to live out the gospel of grace in the midst of our communities.  Even as we live as "exiles" in the brokenness of this world, we are called to live a life of hope in Christ.  This might mean being a faithful employee, being supportive to a neighbor in need, or working for justice in the most corrupted parts of this life.  It doesn't mean hiding away or turning a blind eye to sin, but it means engaging with this world and shining the light of Jesus' grace and truth into it.  

How thankful I am to have summers in Haiti to remind me of the need to live purposefully, to see this present life as one that has been redeemed and is freed to lived for the glory of my Heavenly Father. How blessed I am to see and be a part of the transformation of a community that comes from faithful Christ-followers living out the gospel in simple and meaningful ways, like delivering shoes and speaking Christ's love to a world in need.

...Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.

How beautiful upon the mountains

    are the feet of him who brings good news,

who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,

    who publishes salvation,

    who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

 

The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice;

    together they sing for joy;

for eye to eye they see

    the return of the Lord to Zion.

Break forth together into singing,

    you waste places of Jerusalem,

for the Lord has comforted his people;

    he has redeemed Jerusalem.

The Lord has bared his holy arm

    before the eyes of all the nations,

and all the ends of the earth shall see

    the salvation of our God... ~Isaiah 52

Just as the Israelites held onto hope of a return of the kingdom in the midst of exile, so we too hold onto the hope that God has a greater story of redemption that He is telling for this world.  

Thank you for following along with me during these summers in Haiti.  Much love and thankfulness for my own community of believers who constantly encourage me in the gospel and remind me to live each moment in the joy of our salvation!  Much love in Christ, Jessie

*Thanks to Ms. Sherrie for the beautiful pictures from our trips to the Ravine this week!