#ShakeninHaiti by Heath

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As promised, I am going to share stories of people who were shaken in Haiti. I think often it takes experiencing another culture to shake us from our apathetic American existence. The stories you will read did not happen during the earthquake, rather they happened while these people faithfully served the Lord in Haiti. As a result, the Lord radically changed their lives in order that maybe, just maybe, our country might be shaken because of what the Lord taught them.

Meet Heath, one of my Haiti teammates and adventurer extraordinaire.  This guy is unafraid to take risks, dive in with new people, embrace new experiences, and lead in a humble, fun manner. He is a great on-the-spot weather announcer. Not to mention, he has a pretty impressive high kick when you challenge him to a competition. This is his #ShakeninHaiti story.

I traveled to the country of Haiti with high hopes of teaching a struggling people group something significant. Little did I know that they would teach me something significant, life changing, and unforgettable.

I remember my father once telling me, “Unless you can prove yourself well with the little things, how can you prove to anyone you can handle the big things?” Haiti taught me how handling the little things can actually bring you the same amount of joy (if not more) than achieving and attaining big things. The grin I’ve sustained on my face from carrying a good job, a good community, and a growing savings account didn’t come close to the size of the grin that the Haitian disciple makers and translators had from living off $2 a day. They have nothing, yet they have everything. My paradigm has officially been rocked. Mark 4:19 says, “But the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.” As an American and a resident of Dallas, I see the level of spiritual decay that can occur when we rely on temporary, worldly things that will indeed fail us. God will never fail you, whether you own the world or a one-room shack.

My favorite part of the trip was experiencing worship with this people group—saying no to the distractions of life, and yes to a fully surrendered heart in pursuit of the one thing that will never fail me. These Haitians taught me how to worship in a way that thanks God for getting me to another day that He never promised me. My best dreams don’t come close to the game plan He has for my life. I am so thankful for the privilege to worship a God who is sovereign over the events and dreams of my life. I will forever be thankful for the men, women, and children who taught me how and where joy in this fallen world can be found. God sustains. I have tasted what true humility and brokenness is all about, and I pray that heart change continues back home in America.

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