Quote on Parting

“Never part without loving words to think of during your absence. It may be that you will not meet again in this life.”—Jean Paul Richter

Faces of Haiti: "Mayor of the Mountain"

One of the people constantly with our team in Haiti was Mr. P. Despite the fact that there are no police, government, or infrastructure of any kind on La Montagne, he is known as the “Mayor of the Mountain.” Mr. P is in his 70’s, with a small and wiry build. Originally from the Dominican Republic, he speaks fluent Spanish as well as Haitian Creole.

You would never know how old he was based on his agility! Mr. P can still climb coconut trees, butcher pigs, and beat teenage girls (*ahem, me*) in foot races up mountains with the best of them. He amazed our whole team! And he is truly “the boss” of the mountain!

On our way down the mountain at the end of the week, we had a little issue. You see, 2 truck drivers had been hired to take our team of 17 down the mountain. We also hired 1 tap-tap for our luggage. Only one truck driver and the tap-tap showed up (an hour late.) We were all packed and ready to leave, so the half of the team that was supposed to ride in the 2^nd truck piled into the tap-tap with the luggage.

We hadn’t driven 5 minutes down the mountain when the other truck driver shows up. He stops the vehicle so that those of us in the tap-tap can get out and ride in his vehicle. But we had already settled in and the missionary tried to explain we no longer needed him because he was so late. The driver got angry, so he pulled his truck in front of our tap-tap and wouldn’t move.

The driver of the tap-tap and the missionary argued with the truck driver for a good 10 minutes as a crowd of Haitians began to gather. Mr. P was hitching a ride into Jacmel with us and was sitting in the back of the tap-tap with us. We could tell he was starting to get antsy. Finally, he got out and went to talk with the truck driver. Two minutes later, we were back on the road. J He holds a lot of influence on La Montagne, which is why he is affectionately given the title “Mayor of the Mountain.”

Haitian Proverb

Here is a good Haitian proverb about drunkenness:

Kabrit bwè, mouton sou.

“Goats drink, sheep get drunk.” Avoid that lifestyle. You are better than that. It will hurt you more.

Evangelism

Shortly after I became the missions trip coordinator for “A Child’s Hope,” I began reading “The Essential Guide to the Short Term Mission Trip” by David C. Forward. He takes a comprehensive look at short term missions trip, starting with why we should be involved in missions at all. The quote below on evangelism stood out to me:

“Though it may seem at times a challenge, evangelism is our solemn obligation. It is never ‘not my job.’

Missions authority David M. Howard wrote:

The missionary enterprise of the church is not a pyramid built upside down with its point on one isolated text in the New Testament out of which we have built a huge structure known as ‘missions.’ Rather, the missionary enterprise of the church is a great pyramid built right side up, with its base running from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22. All of Scripture forms the foundation for the outreach of the gospel to the whole world. [David Mr. Howard, The Great Commission for Today (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1976), 31.]

The model that compels us to do evangelistic mission work today can be found in Matthew 9:35: ‘Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.’”

Evangelism is truly at the core of Christianity. If God did not want us to practice evangelism, then we would go straight to heaven after we became a Christian. But He leaves us here on this earth with the sole purpose of proclaiming His Name among all the nations. How are you doing in this vital mandate? Are you a faithful evangelist for Christ?

Pass Through

“I expect to pass through life but once. If, therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now for I shall not pass this way again.” –William Penn (1644)