Stress: the keen disrupter

Mittwoch, 13. Juni 2012

Stress: the keen disrupter

Haiti There's never a good time to be sick or injured because it always comes at a time when you can least afford it.

The stress of getting better is a distraction in itself.

For Haiti With Love is a small mission agency working in Cap Haitien in the northern part of Haiti. Ministry founder Eva DeHart says it has been a tough year to stay on track with their goals because of physical interruptions.

First, DeHart says, there was the issue of her vision. Cataracts had been causing increasing problems, so she had them both taken care of this spring, which put her out of commission during the recuperation period.

As a result, she says, "I am mountains of work behind. And just as I'm getting ready to get back into the flow of things and ready to really hit this stuff and get all caught up, Roseline [daughter] comes down with a foot problem, so now her instructions are to stay off of it."

Roseline DeHart is the in-country director. She has an equally large task that is difficult to complete. Eva DeHart explains, "We have the roof project started. Roseline gathers things to bring back for the auction, for our fundraiser on August 13. There are a lot of details to take care of. We're building a Pilgrim House #21 this summer. The devil has his fun, doesn't he? He likes to pick our busiest times to put the jabs in and slow our key people down."

Lest the observations fall into "whining," this is a good place to note that the work of For Haiti With Love is Kingdom building. Growth means spiritual warfare, and that comes in the form of discouragement, distraction, and destruction.

Eva agrees. "I think that's one of the things that we lose in the culture with our busyness and our feeling of self-reliance: we forget who's really in charge." Ministry stress is inevitable. Becoming overwhelmed by ministry stress is not inevitable.

But it seems that Americans do not know how not to be busy. That's the beauty of For Haiti With Love's ministry. In Cap Haitien, the clinic, the feeding program, and other key programs are run by Haitians. That helps them to be relevant to people's lives. Their team can identify with the problems because they live in the community, too.

Genuine compassion and the love of Christ, says Eva, means that "it is 'standing room only' in the churches. They're wholly reliant on God, and they really recognize that and praise Him for every blessing."

Even as the deadlines loom, Eva says she's thankful for her team, for the support from other believers, and for prayer. They're a mom and pop shop in ministry, so every man (or, in this case, woman) counts. The struggle against physical limitations has only clarified their purpose in Haiti: to love the poor to Christ. Although they have a small team in Haiti, they need more help to get more done. "It would also be nice to have others start stepping in to really help. It would be nice to have some volunteers go down, volunteers for the Christmas in August fundraiser. We need funding."

God taking charge is the way to a grace-filled life. The joy of the Haitian believers is a constant reminder of that. Stress will be there, says Eva, but dependence upon God's grace changes how they look at it. And that change makes all the difference in the world.

Voice of the Gospel Christian Radio - Radio Stimme des Evangeliums

Mittwoch, 13. Juni 2012

Stress: the keen disrupter

Stress: the keen disrupter

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