The Next Phase

Having been here four months now, I am seeing the different phases of my stint marked by very visible changes, mostly in relation to my company.

Upon arriving, I was naturally overwhelmed yet graciously in the shelter of guidance with Wilckly here to regulate things. But when things turned and he was carried away to prison, my dwellings were paralleled by the shift from shelter to the tent of independence. Praise God, I was not fearful of that condition, but savored Wilckly's presence in the weeks following his release. But then, from shelter to tent, I was introduced into the open skies of loneliness in leadership when he travelled Stateside.

Now, it may sound as if I'd been booted into the condition against my will, but I assure you that Wilckly's sabbatical (if it can be called that) was more necessary than I can describe to you. In saying this, though, I will not deny its difficulty. But in its difficulty, I can not also deny the necessity of this dwelling place for me. Without this time of orientation (in the extreme of the word) and if I hadn't learned the things I did during it, I would be the worse for it.

It is a privilege to be so honored of the Dorce's to have me sit in such a position in their absence. And to trust a person as they have trusted me is no small thing. Even further, God carried out His perfect, though uncomfortable, plan of accelerating me to the understanding I have now for this ministry, this people, this type of leadership and the things that are necessary to carry it out. I will be much more valuable to them in the rest of my time with here than I would be if Wilckly had stayed and cushioned the work for me.

Though I'm sure they didn't anticipate this time to be as it has been (and who could possibly do such a thing?), God knew since my first thought of this work, my first conversation with Dee, my first taste of the responsibility in this ministry that this would be His reckoning of it. And who can argue with sovereignty?

Anyway, I'm thankful for the whole lot of it. I have been refreshed by the conversation and fellowship of my visitors (though they have left me now). I am ready to jump back into the swing of Wilckly's presence and am taking a deep breath as the work begins again, as Wilckly always attracts more activity when he's here.

A few things I've noticed about Wilckly already:

1) he's more annoyed by the rats than me.
2) he has a higher standard for bananas than me.
3) we tend to drink more lemonade when he's around.
And 4) people generally respect him more than me, which is to be expected when you stand, in Haiti, a 40-something married Haitian man who founded the mission next to a 23-year-old white girl with no husband, no kids, no Kreyol, no experience and no idea what she's doing.

All my love,
C