What Would Happen if We Loved Instead?

"But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which spitefully use you, and persecute you."
Matthew 5: 44

When I arrived in Haiti this last trip, I had a hard time reconnecting to our girls. I could see some of their hearts growing cold toward the Lord and other people. It broke my heart. I kept my distance because I didn't want to force a renewed relationship with them. I prayed and asked the Lord for wisdom on words to say to them and the patience to wait for the right timing. There was one girl in particular that I had bonded with since day 1 of my first trip to Haiti. But during this trip I could see she was absent, sad, unwilling to participate in corporate worship and Bible studies. I was concerned, wondering why there was this change in her.

The last Tuesday I was there, I attended their girl's Bible study at the Manasseros' house. Sue was sick, so Bill was teaching. I was the only other American there. Bill gave a great Bible study on love and started a discussion among the girls on if it's been hard for them to love everyone around them all the time. Like all of us, in truth, they admitted, yes!! I could still see their resistance to listening...arms crossed, eyes rolling, some starting to fall asleep. Tough crowd! But Bill, with fatherly love, kept on with his lesson on love, undeterred by their attitudes. "Does God just ask us to love our family and friends and people that are nice to us?" Bill asked. A corporate, "No, our enemies too!" was their response. They could repeat this from the Bible, yet their was such a disconnect to their hearts. Bill then said, "Yes, God even calls us to pray for them. So we're all going to do something difficult right now. We are going to think of the person that is our enemy. This is going to be hard because this is someone who has done, or is still doing, really mean and evil things to you. And we're going to pray for them, ask God to help us to forgive and love them."

Then, the girl who I mentioned earlier who was absent and sad, quickly said, "What if they did something really really bad to you?" Instantly, I felt the Spirit moving within me to speak a word to her and the girls. It was time. In a nutshell, this is what I felt the Lord wanted to communicate to the girls, "I know it's hard to forgive people, I have a hard time forgiving people that have done bad things to me. But when I do, I think about Jesus. He did nothing but love people when he was on earth. And what did they do to him?" They responded, "Killed him, made fun of him, spit on him, beat him." "Yes, that's right. And what was his response? He loved them anyway. And when He was on the cross He even prayed for them. He prayed, 'Father forgive them for they know not what they do.' The people that did horrible things to you, they may not have known what they were doing and some know exactly what they were doing. Either way, we're called to forgive them, love them and pray for them. What the Lord has shown me is that we have even more reason to pray for people that have hurt us. You know why? Because who knows...if you pray for them and they turn to the Lord and turn from their sin, they won't continue to do the evil things they're doing. And you know what, they won't do the same evil thing they did to you to someone else." At that moment I looked at the girl that originally asked the question and I could see her eyes starting to water.

I then shared, "Just like how Jonah, when called by the Lord to call the people of Ninevah to repentance, he ran the other way. He got swallowed up by a fish. In the same way, God is calling us to call these people that hurt us to repentance and to forgive them. When we choose not to forgive or do what Christ tells us to do, just like Jonah, we are in darkness--not free. We forgive because God wants us to be free from the sadness and hurt that comes from unforgiveness."

With that said, Bill played the worship song, "We bow our hearts, we bend our knees, Oh Spirit come make us humble. We turn our eyes, from evil things, Oh Lord we cast down our idols. Give us clean hands, give us pure hearts..." Some of the girls knelt down, they were broken and hungry to be close to God again. Bill invited anyone who wanted prayer to come to the middle for he and I to pray over. Four girls came forward. Breakthrough. Only through the presence of Jesus in our midst. God is good!

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty with which Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."
Galatians 5: 1

A New Creation

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things have passed away; behold new things have come."

2 Cor. 5: 17

One of my first posts from Haiti last year was about a little boy named Makenzy. We've had a special bond since week 1 of my summer of last year. Makenzy made it his job to protect me every time I came out of my house. If some of the neighborhood children would bombard me and try to take things from my hands, he'd quickly come to my rescue, pushing them away, grabbing me, and escorting me to wherever I needed to go. We'd often spend time playing and dancing together at feeding time. I instantly fell in love with this kid and knew that one of the reasons I came to Haiti was for him.

However, although Makenzy was so endearing and lovable, I quickly learned that Makenzy was also the biggest trouble maker. He'd often get in trouble at the feeding program for getting in fights with other kids. He had problems listening to staff members. So frequently, his face would instantly turn from joy and laughter, to anger...no, rage...from seemingly small problems, like having to share a ball he was using. He had a stare that burned with fuming anger, and, I would venture to say, was demonic. Last time I visited in December, I let Makenzy borrow my camera during feeding program to take pictures for me. When I took it back, he pushed me...really hard I might add, ha. He then started following me around and hitting and biting every child I held or played with. Then he told another staff member I was Satan. I was so dumbfounded, at a loss of how to minister to this child that I loved so much and wanted so desperately to know Jesus.

From my teaching experience, I knew in the back of my mind that Makenzy probably had a really horrible home life with his family. I soon found out that his mother was very distant toward him, his step dad hated him, and every time he ever got something new, his older brothers would take it from him when he got home. It wouldn't surprise me if physical abuse was also a frequent occurrence in his household. It made sense that he didn't know how to respect adults or authority figures. It made sense that he always felt like he needed to fight to keep something he was using or playing with.

By the end of my time in December, Makenzy was back to his sweet self. He hugged me goodbye and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I came returned to the States, praying that God would continue working in his heart. I prayed that God would bring about people that would love Makenzy, teach Him the Word, share the love of Christ...that Makenzy would be healed of all the hurt from his family life, that he would accept Christ as his Lord and Savior.

When I came back to Haiti this last May, I was so excited to wrap my arms around him again. I could hardly recognize him. He had such a calm, sweet demeanor about him. He was soft spoken, kind to me and other people, listening to the adults at the feeding program. He was even a helper at the feeding program!!! Whatt??! My heart melted, I was so thankful that God had been faithful to answer my prayers. A new creation...still in the process of sanctification, far from perfect of course, but my goodness, Makenzy is definitely a different child. I am so thankful for people like Susette Manassero, Alicia Simmons, Scotti Robbins and Ivens Bastien for taking this trouble maker under their wing and loving him, accepting him, being patient with him, and pouring into him. To God be all the glory! May more testimonies of new creations continue!!