What does it truly mean to trust God?
Today was a good day in Haiti. Corn got planted, electrical systems got fixed, supplies got purchased, and most importantly – boys and girls were loved on by guys whose hearts were expanded. It was a good day in Haiti.
Then at the end of the day I was asked to go for a ride to look at homes in the neighborhood. The definition of a home is hard to pin down in Haiti. And after Hurricane Matthew in 2016 that definition got a lot broader because almost everything was leveled. Houses blown away, possessions blown away, crops blown away, livestock blown away. Lives changed drastically for the second time in 6 years.
To help GoServ Global offered Safe T Homes to families in the neighborhood. And so far about 40 homes have been placed – with those with the most need getting helped first. So the ride around the neighborhood was to visit with people who had recently gotten the homes.
The photos below are from the first place we stopped. The first photo shows the home that the family lived in. And she shared her story of that night with us. She was in her home when the storm started -125 to 150 mph winds for 12 hours. And when she realized that her home was not safe she took her daughter and son and they went to the neighbors. That sounds easy enough until you realize that meant crawling hundreds of yards, clutching your children, dodging flying debris that was hitting them at 150 mph. And they made it only to have the roof torn off of that house. But the walls kept them safe – not dry but safe.
In the morning she looked out to see all of her possessions and her house gone. What you see in the photo is all that was left. So she took her children and went to a friend’s house. But after 2 days that family told her their house was too crowded and she had to leave. So she went back to her house, found a few boards to put on the roof, not to stay dry but to have brief periods of shade during the day. And they lived that way for a year.
The second photo shows the new Safe T Home she recently moved into. And then she told us the most amazing thing. When we asked her about the new home she said, “I knew my God would save me and supply my needs. I would rather die than to stop trusting Him and believing in Him”. Day after day living in that house with her children and she knew her God would save her. She trusted Him.
And I realized that trusting God is easy when life is easy. When my problems are being stuck in traffic, or getting the flu, or not always getting what I want. But when I have gone through unimaginable trials can I still say, “I knew my God would save me and supply my needs”? Haiti shows me over and over what it means to trust in a God who will never leave me or forsake me.
Gene Petersen, GoServ Global Board Member