This has been my second year interning with Haiti Bible Mission, and my sixth time back to Haiti. It’s hard to come back and not feel like a veteran and as if you are equipped for anything that could come your way. However, through this trip the Lord humbled me and showed me just how much I didn’t know, and how I truly needed to lean on Him. I consider the Stockelands and all the wonderful Haitian people involved with the mission as a second family; so being able to stay for five weeks was something I looked forward to all year. I went into this trip determined to learn more about prayer and strengthen that aspect of my walk with Christ, so I brought a cute little informational book about it and sought to become a prayer warrior. God had other plans; however, as I was only able to get a couple pages into the book because my entire trip was consumed by actually praying. I learned that to become more competent in prayer, you must simply do it. Imagine that! There were so many circumstances this summer that warranted going to the Lord in prayer, so many in fact, that I began to write each prayer down. By the end of my trip this list was deemed the miracle list, for every single prayer on my list was answered in some facet, throughout the weeks of pleading and wrestling with God. My biggest epiphany during my internship was that God is faithful! Not in the way we think He ought to be, but in the way that brings Him most glory.
This time my stay in Haiti wasn’t just a trip, but it truly felt like I was living there. Being able to talk with the Haitians every day and bring fame to the Kingdom, whether it was through painting Pastor Mark’s house, seeing Djfet, one of the teachers, receive his very first moto, praying over Zo after his near fatal accident or simply being able to help our friends who prepare our evening meals was what touched my heart. Seeing the devastating condition of the hospital in downtown Jeremie and hearing stories of tragic deaths was humbling, and it gave me a greater respect for the Haitian people’s faith. My most memorable experience of this trip would have to be when I was at the village where the Mission recently built a school, Te Wouj. I was praying over some of the women, for small problems, such as, back-aches, knee injuries, headaches, etc… During this time, one of the women was helping facilitate who was prayed for next. She would point to her friends, tell me what their problem was and plead for me to pray for them. After I had finished praying for all the women, I looked up at the woman helping me through the process and my heart immediately stopped. This woman is a huge blessing to the community and is known for her joy and smile; however, she is also known for the massive growth bulging from her neck. When I realized that this woman, who by far has the most noticeable, most constricting ailment, yet didn’t even bother to ask for prayer for herself, because she cared more that her friends received prayer for their stomach aches than healing for her own flesh, I was broken. At that moment I saw a glimpse of Christ’s great love for me. Haiti Bible Mission is different from all other missions, in the sense that it isn’t an organization or a business, but it is a family. It is a place where Jesus is proclaimed and faith is lived out, a place where feeding the orphans and the widows is normal and bragging on the Lord is expected. I cherish every memory I made and long for my return, when the Lord allows!
In Him,
Hannah Truitt