Salvation & Healing

Sonithe, one of our leaders, shared a beautiful gospel testimony with me about one of our CST families. First some background: San Bouda, used to be a voodoo leader - he was the one you would call on if you wanted a séance to happen. He had a real connection with the evil spirits. His daughter Cathialove was a student in our school until she tragically died from a sickness during her Kindergarten year. San Bouda decided that since his voodoo gods couldn’t heal his daughter he would come check out Jesus at our church. God encountered His heart, he gave his life to Jesus and has been following Jesus for a few years now - hallelujah! Now to the current testimony - his son Wikenson is now in our kindergarten class. In December of last year, Wikenson became very ill and was close to death (sound familiar?). From his waist up his body was swollen and he was bed ridden. San Bouda’s family urged him to return to the voodoo ceremonies to see if his son could be healed. San Bouda responded with eternity in his heart, “I’d rather have Wikenson die and remain in Jesus than return to the darkness.” Our school staff and church began praying for Wikenson. One man received wisdom from God and gathered some local herbs and made a tea. When Wikenson drank the remedy he vomited out what apparently was some kind of poison. During three days of continued prayer, the swelling in his body moved from his upper body down to his legs and then left him completely. He has returned to full health and I was able to run and play with this joyful son of God who is destined for greatness.

Praise God for salvation and healing!!

February Haiti Trip

**Due to the current state of Haiti and the Lord’s leading we (the Lancour Family) have not been back to our Haiti home as a family since September of 2022. Jesse has taken four trips back during our time away and the following is his update from his most recent trip.

Arriving at our home in Haiti used to be a "simple" 3 ½ hour drive from the capital out to Gwo Cheval, our mountain village. Now we avoid gang territory by traveling through the Dominican Republic for a day and then driving the beautiful yet rigorous 3 ½ hours up the mountain to our house. Our truck in Haiti hasn’t been able to get all the required maintenance it needs so some friends of ours picked me up at the border and drove me to our Haiti home.

During the week our property is beaming with life. Students running, playing, learning, swinging, falling. Teachers corralling, helping, preparing, teaching. Lunch ladies washing, rinsing, laughing, hauling. Administrators typing, meeting, counting, dreaming. When I arrived late afternoon, just a handful of people remained but I knew the significance of what was happening on that holy ground day after day. Jesus was there. He was the joy in that day’s recess. He was the wisdom in that day’s lessons. He was the hope for tomorrow in the heart of our students. He was the provision of food on the table and water in the basin. He is what makes Cornerstone Haiti’s campus a city set on a hill that brings glory to our Father in heaven.

I was welcomed into our home by a lot of dust and mold growth. After removing a layer off of most things I was also welcomed by the presence of the Lord there and a deep desire for our whole family to be in that home again. There is so much work to be done in maintaining our home and the school facilities, one day we’ll catch up.

A clear message that Jesus gave me to share was part of the history of one of Haiti’s founding fathers, Toussaint L’Ouverture. He was a slave that received freedom and in his leading of the revolution still had compassion for his enemies. This led him later to be captured by Napoleon who sent him to prison in France to die. Jesus has freedom in store for Haiti, He’s eagerly waiting for His church to “Preach…the unsearchable riches of Christ…to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places” Eph 3:9-10.

My 12 days in Gwo Cheval were full of connection and joyful embraces, mutual honor and love, encouragement and vision for our future. God has begun a mighty work in our midst and I feel as though we are just now scratching the surface of His plans and desires. I will continue defining success through our collective awareness of Immanuel, God actually with us, and not a western view of success which tends to neglect the heart of a people. In that measure of success, I think we are right on track! We praise You Jesus!

All for Him,

Jesse Lancour
Co-Founder & President of Cornerstone Haiti

Endurance

The past several months have been more draining than usual. Part of that is because there seems to be no relief from gang violence in sight as kidnappings and gang wars continue to rage on, making certain parts of Haiti very high risk and other parts of Haiti simply more difficult. Part of it is the pressure of the continually increasing cost of living for an already extremely poor nation. Part of it is that locally we are the only missionary family still full-time in the area, which brings definite loneliness from time to time. And another part of it is keeping hope alive for all that God has put on our hearts to see happen in our community even though it seems like “bad news” just keeps flowing. So in light of all of this, the question that was rising in our hearts was “how do we keep going? Move forward? Endure?”

Galatians 6:9 “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

At the beginning of June our family had the great honor and privilege of going to a missionary conference at a beautiful all-inclusive resort in Cancun, Mexico. Talk about a totally different world than our mountains of Gwo Cheval, Haiti! There were luxurious rooms and pools and ocean and fun for the kids and all sorts of delicious foods to enjoy at any time of day! We got to reconnect with some dear friends of ours (also missionaries in Haiti just a different part and because of gang activity we haven’t been able to hang out in person) and we got to meet SO many like-hearted missionaries from all across the world. There were sessions of worship and teaching and prayer ministry as well as a “kids’ club” during those times so that us adults could concentrate a little bit more. It was literally a dream come true for us. But the thing that we were looking forward to the most, was hearing from the speakers who had been scheduled to be there.

The ones who shared have been missionaries on the field for 30+ and 40+ years… and still actually love God and people. We have met a few very long-term missionaries before, but most seem completely drained and very angry. But these men and women love Jesus and love people and have given their lives to do what God has told them to do. How do we end up like THAT? What is the secret? What are the “5 steps” to staying long-term on the mission field? How do we avoid burn out? How do we keep our marriage and family healthy? How do we keep loving the people we serve day in and day out? How do we find joy in the hard and mundane? How do we keep going? The truth they shared was simple and yet deeply life-giving.

Know God more.

That’s it. That’s what it all boiled down to.

Each one told this group of a couple hundred full-time, over 5 years on the field missionaries in their own unique ways that the only way to endure in ministry… and really in life… is to know God more. To seek His face. To get in His presence. To see that as you know God more, you’ll realize that there is so much more to know of Him. And then at the end of every session we all sought God together. We cried out for Him to meet with us… to strengthen our hearts… to bring healing to our aching souls… to wash over us with His Holy presence… to help us drink deeply of His living water. And you know what? God met with us. He opened our hearts to deeper revelations of who He is… our perfect Heavenly Father. Our Savior. Our King. Our Counselor. Our Mighty God. Our Peace that passes all understanding. Our Justice. Our Strength. Our Endurance.

And so we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. We give everything we are FIRST to knowing Him, seeking His kingdom, learning to abide. We soak in His presence, lean in to learn His voice more clearly, immerse ourselves in His Word. We endure only by His strength. We surrender ourselves fully to Him and embrace all that it means to pick up our cross for the joy set before us. Only to Him, through Him and by Him can we endure and walk fully in the calling He has placed on our lives. God is calling each one of us to lean more fully into Himself… to walk in obedience by His grace… to keep moving forward by His strength... to endure.

1 Corinthians 15:58  “Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”

Privilege

Not too long ago our almost three year old daughter was having some respiratory issues. She was losing her voice and started having some pretty heavy wheezing in her breathing. It didn’t affect her much during the day, but was getting worse at night until one night she woke at about three in the morning crying and trying to catch her breath. If we had been in the States I would have definitely taken her to the ER in order to get a breathing treatment, but in the early morning hours in the mountains of Haiti, prayer and home remedies are pretty much your only move. We prayed, used essential oils, coached her in breathing, snuggled her and prayed some more. She was able to calm down and then I slept mostly upright with her in our recliner until the sun came up. The next morning we called the Haitian MD at our local clinic and asked if we could borrow their nebulizer equipment and supplies to give Felicity some breathing treatments before bed to help her sleep better and get over this virus faster. The doctor was eager to help and we sent a friend of ours to pick up the supplies by “moto” and had them within an hour. I set up the equipment and gave her a treatment which immediately helped decrease wheezing, helping her breathe easier. We praised God and went about our day filled with gratitude as well as a deep sense of just how privileged we are.

I know not everyone likes to hear or even think about the reality that privilege exists, but it does and it comes in many shapes and forms. It includes race, socio-economic status, country of origin, family connections… so many things. For us, being white Americans raised in the middle class of the midwest, we received the opportunity for higher education… our privilege goes beyond what our neihbors and community in Haiti can imagine! Even in the story that I shared above, the only reason we had the local Haitian doctor’s phone number is because we are friends with the Americans who run the clinic. And the only reason she took our phone call is because of the position we carry in the community which comes from being American. The reason she just went ahead and sent over all the nebulizer supplies with only an explination of what was going on with our daughter is because she knew that we are educated and would know how to give the treatment. We had the money to pay someone to go and pick up the supplies for us. We had the reasoning and research ability to figure out what was going on with Felicity in the first place. I could continue to go on and on, but the reality is that even in this difficult and at times scary situation, being privileged helped it go better for us. This would not be the situation for the general Haitian person in our community.

Now, should I feel bad about the fact that I’m privilged? No. Feeling bad about it doesn’t help our neighbors. I am truly thankful for the privilige that I live in and at the same time I recognize that my experience is not the same as most of the other people in our Haitian community (or really world for that matter). But the question I have been asking myself and need to continue asking myself is how can I use privilege and I would say God-given privilege to elevate those around me? In the areas that I am “blessed,” how can I be a blessing?

In Matthew 25:14-30 Jesus tells the parable of the talents – a wealthy manager (God) entrusts varying amounts of money (talents/gifts/position/privilege) to three servants (His kids) and goes away on a trip. When he gets back from his absence he checks in on His servants and is pleased with the two who brought increase to His kingdom, but is furious with the one who, though he didn’t lose any money, brought no increase. This applies to so many different areas in our lives, but I would suggest that overall it can apply to the privilege (no matter what degree) that we carry on our individual lives. We are not supposed to “bury” the gifts God has given us (influence, ability to create wealth, social status – privilege), but are to use it to help, elevate, honor and bless those around us who are not in the same position. This is one major way to bring increase to God’s “wealth”, to establish more of His kingdom on the earth until the day we see Him face to face.  The way of the world is to bury the talents God gave us and keep them only for ourselves trying to eliminate risk in our lives. We are convinced that it is more blessed to save than to give when our Lord Himself demonstrated and commanded the opposite. 2 Corinthians 8:9 says that ‘though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.’ I don’t want to selfishly hold on to all that I have been given. I want others to benefit from what God, by His grace, has poured out on my life so that they might know Him better and live how He desires them to live. I want all of the privilege that I live in to be an increase to the Kingdom of God in every way. This is part of what it means to follow Jesus. So let’s be grateful for how our “talents” make our lives better but more importantly focus on others and use them to increase the kingdom of God in every way!

-Kirsten

And They Devoted Themselves...

I have had the honor of being part of some amazing communities in my life so far. I had a wonderful group of friends all throughout high school who walked with each other through the awkwardness of puberty, first boyfriends, family heartaches and discovering relationship with Jesus. Then I went to college and found myself again in the midst of some amazing Jesus-loving community! We laughed together, cried together, prayed together, worshiped together, studied together, healed together and dreamt of the future together.  Those times of community were so beautiful and pulled me closer to Jesus and grew me so much as a person.

Community can look so different depending on the stage of life and the context you are in, but the heart of it should be the same. I have learned so much about community by living in Haiti. Christian community here isn’t just a nice idea or something you can take or leave or even something that you have to go searching for… community is survival. You just can’t make it here on your own. American culture is so much about the individual. The messages I received growing up were that it is good to never need anyone. You should just learn to do it on your own.  Figure it out. Be independent. Never truly need anyone. But here… in these mountains of Haiti “not needing anyone” just isn’t an option. If you have no water because you don’t have a water cistern, you rely on the kindness of your neighbor who has one. If you have no food because your crops failed, you have a tightly knit church family who will rally together to make sure everyone has something to eat. And really I think that is much closer to how God desires it to be for all of His people.

I had been told many times in my youth that in this life “all you need is Jesus.” And while it may be true that Jesus is the only One who can save me… the only One who can fulfill my deepest longings and desires… the only One worth living for… it is also true that He purposefully made us to need each other. The family of God goes deeper and wider than a physcial relative ever could – it is by His blood that we become family. Jesus talks about this in Matthew 12:46-50. While His earthly mother and brothers were wanting to speak to Him, He posed the question “who is my true family?” He answers His own question and says that the ones who obey His Father are His family. We who are in Christ are family. And in this family God has purposed it so that we need each other.  As followers of Jesus we are to be dependent on God while being interdependent on each other.

Acts 2:42-47

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.  And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

*Lord Jesus, teach us to live in such a godly expression of community no matter where we live. Oh that the beauty of our unity as Your body would be a sign and a wonder to the world that would draw people to Yourself! Be glorified Jesus and let your family grow!*

Home to Haiti

After a 2 ½ month long winter journey stateside, we have returned home to our mountain community in Haiti and have been here for about two weeks. It has been a good and at times difficult transition, which seems to be the norm. This time around has definitely involved a more difficult “yes” than in the past. We have been stretched even more to hear God’s voice, obey and choose to trust. And let me tell you… it’s been a journey.

We’ve lived in Haiti for around 8 ½ years now and have traveled back to the states as a family almost every year and a half to connect with friends, family and supporting churches. We have become accustomed to the transitions between cultures and all the conversations, questions and feelings it stirs up. But this past trip had so many extra situations swirling around it that the normal conversations, questions and feelings became deeper, more intense and felt a bit more risky.

Haiti has been in rough shape for quite some time, but in the past several years things have gotten really bad in just about every way. Currently the government is mostly non-functioning, gangs are in control of most major roads in and out of the nation’s capital (Port-au-Prince), the police are no competition for these gangs (and there is major possibility that some are connected with them) and kidnappings and vehicle theft are still happening on the regular which means travel is a no go for those who can help it. Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere and with the state of world finances the worth of the Haitian Goud continues to fall. When we moved here in 2013 it was 1 USD = 46 HTG, now its 1 USD = 105 HTG. Prices on all goods continues to increase, and the gangs aren’t helping with this – as they block roads and charge vehicles to pass, transport trucks have to charge more for their loads which means the street prices increase to cover the cost.

 So while we were stateside (for holidays and a friend’s wedding) we had all of these risk factors of living in Haiti floating through our heads. Many missionaries have chosen to leave Haiti because of the increased risks and danger, including some close friends of ours in a neighboring village. And then while stateside we received heartbreaking news that a missionary friend of ours (he and his family lived about 25 minutes away from us in another village) died quite suddenly after being sick for a week. He and his family ran a clinic and helped so many people find healthcare in our remote area, but for now that clinic is closed. So we found ourselves stateside with all of these realities swirling around in our minds and the “what ifs” that came with them. It all just seemed like too much. We were constantly trying to pray, process and hear from God in the midst of living in other people’s spaces, having commitments to keep, parenting four, full of life, kiddos and doing our best to plan our next steps while not fully knowing what those should be exactly.

Have you ever experienced a time where you were SO desperate to her God’s voice for direction? Well, that’s exactly where we were (and still are). There were many voices speaking, but the one we needed (and need) was His.

It is His voice that we want to hear.

It is His voice that we want to follow.

In the midst of the confusion we were feeling His nearness and hearing His still small voice leading us back to our home in Haiti. We were able to take a few days of retreat as a family and Jesse and I spent some time in prayer and fasting (and asked our ministry board of directors to join in too). During those days (as well as before and after) God was so kind to confirm clearly through Scripture, wise counsel, prophetic words, past testimonies and His still small voice that we were to return home as planned.

During a time of solitude and prayer I was confessing all of my fears and once again asking God to speak about going home. His response to me was that he already had. He had already spoken in every way He was going to and now I just had to choose to trust. My hope was that if I just had one more confirmation then maybe all of my fears would melt away, but no. The fearful thoughts still came and what I needed to do was to fight through the fear and choose to trust Him.

And so here we are… home in Haiti doing our best to love God, love our neighbor and bring His kingdom wherever we go. We’re doing our best to obey and sometimes for me that means obeying a little bit scared. When the fear comes I get to choose to trust God, declare hope and believe for miracles.

Like I said… it’s been quite the transition and we’re still in the midst of it. And so I ask for your prayers over our family, our ministry and our community and I leave you (and myself) with this verse.

"The Lord alone is our radiant hope and we trust in Him with all our hearts. His wrap-around presence will strengthen us."

Psalm 33:20 (TPT)

Haitiversary

We recently passed our six-year mark of living in Haiti. With the current state of the nation it was an interesting day to celebrate. I usually post on social media about that sort of thing, but I honestly didn’t know what to say. The boys and I made cookies for our school staff and Jesse and I kept looking at each other throughout the day and would say “Six years, babe.” “Yep… six years.”  We honestly didn’t feel a whole lot of excitement about it. And not because we aren’t thankful for what God has done over the past six years in our community and in our lives, but because we just have no idea what the next six years will bring. We honestly have no idea what the next month will bring!

Haiti has been in a state of political turmoil for quite some time. Over the past year or so demonstrations (which include road blocks, burning tires, violence, increased gang activity etc.) have gone in spurts – a couple days here, a week there. But at the start of September it all intensified and really hasn’t stopped. Many schools have yet to open, different businesses have been targets of violence, fuel deliveries have been all but cut off to certain areas of the country and many clinics and hospitals are running low on supplies country wide. Hundreds of jobs have been lost due to the closure of several large hotels and businesses while other businesses are trying to stay open but have to layoff many employees to stay afloat financially. I read from a reliable source that in the past two months, 20 YEARS of economic advancement has been lost. Inflation continues to dominate and fear and uncertainty are the common theme. Haiti is a mess. So happy six year Haitiversary, right?

For the most part the atmosphere remains unchanged here in our mountain community. Stories from down the mountain are brought up and circulated by the students who have come home since school hasn’t opened. They are thankful to escape the current madness of “the city”. Trucks have started traveling once more, so that’s a comfort, but there is the constant fear of getting robbed once they make it down the mountain. Cornerstone School of Truth has been able to function as normal which we are so thankful for, but in order to stay open we have needed to switch up or usual way of getting cash and supplies. It will take more time and be more work, but it will be safer for now which is a good thing.

So here we are… going into our seventh year of life in Haiti. (Wait a minute. The seventh year should be a Sabbath year, right? So Biblically we can just take this next year off, yeah? Juuuust kidding.) Even though we have gotten used to the normal level of uncertainty in this country, the past several months have been a whole new level and our minds and bodies are feeling the effects of it. BUT we have to keep reminding ourselves that the circumstances around us do NOT dictate our life… God does. We have had many conversations of “what ifs” and we keep coming back to the fact that we have given our lives to follow God’s lead and we will give the rest of our lives to do the same thing. And for right now we hear God saying to us specifically “endure for the generations to come.” Even if for some reason we have to close the school for a while, God has called us to live in this community and love and empower our neighbors in whatever way He directs. The school is one way in which we do that, but it’s not the only way. The good news of Jesus and the truth of His gospel are best shared through our life… living and learning and growing together in community. So here is to the next year of life in Haiti. We have even less of a clue than usual as to what it will bring, but we are in it. We are in it with our community to see the Kingdom of God come to Haiti. And even if what God has called us to only affects one life and even if we never get to see the fruit of it all, by God’s grace we will endure for the generations to come.

Pray with us for the people of Haiti – so many of the poor and oppressed are suffering even more during this time and it feels like such a hopeless situation. But we continue believing and hoping and praying and working toward a better Haiti.  

First Week of School

During our last staff meeting before school started we all shared our hopes for this coming school year. A consistent theme voiced was that we would all learn to understand each other and work together in unity. God brought a picture to mind as everyone was sharing – I saw all of the staff members holding hands in a circle with all of the students in the middle. God spoke to my heart that as we stand in unity for these kids that He has placed in our school, then they will be protected. But if we allow division come to come for any reason and drop our hands at any place in the circle, then the children will be vulnerable to attack from the enemy. Unity is on everyone’s heart and so we pray that everyone makes the necessary efforts to maintain a unified culture. Our main desire is for our children to flourish and our staff remaining unified is one necessary component.

With that in mind we have headed into our fourth year of school with Cornerstone School of Truth… wow… so crazy! Jesse has been busy getting the Kindergarten – 2nd grade classes settled into their new schedules and getting the teachers more acquainted with the material. We do school a little differently so Jesse has to do a whole lot of on the job training with the Kindergarten and Elementary staff, especially since two of the teachers are new to the CST family. The Preschool staff has been doing well! With only one new teacher on that team it makes the flow easier since the majority of staff knows what needs to happen. It’s been so great having all our students back and now the school yard and classrooms are flowing with laughter and life once again!

We definitely weren’t 100% prepared, but when does that ever actually happen? Our team has worked beautifully together and we view every school year as a new learning experience. With each new year comes new challenges, new solutions and aaaaaall the growth and refinement. Jesse commented how each year it shocks him how chaotic the first couple days are and then all of a sudden a rhythm begins to happen and everyone knows where they are supposed to be and what they are supposed to be doing. One thing is very true about this first week… it has been messy. Just like most of life, right? So once again we get to make the choice to embrace it all and move forward with what God has called us to do knowing that in the mess God makes beautiful things! One thing we are certain of is that we are creating the space for our students to grab hold of their identity and destiny in Jesus. They each will know that they are loved, that their ideas matter and that their education is important.

Here is to an amazing fourth year of Cornerstone School of Truth!

Worthy Of It All

Summer has looked very different for us from year to year since moving to Haiti. We spent the beginning of the last two summers traveling stateside, which was great, but made preparing for the next school year quite hectic. We decided that this summer we would be staying home (which also influenced our decision to give birth to our sweet Felicity here in Haiti). We had been looking forward to the extra time we would have to settle in as a family of six and be way ahead of CST prep work as the school year approached. Building projects, though several, are not major ones and our current staff had been doing a great job so we were in a place to develop our staff training even more. Well… per usual things will not be working out how we first hoped and right now a trip stateside is looking pretty nice…

This summer is going to be an interesting one for us – difficult and frustrating conversations to have, tough decisions to make, changes in school staff and unknowns to discover. I’m not necessarily looking forward to it… ok I am ZERO looking forward to it. And you know why? Because (a) CONFLICT and (b) it’s going to be difficult.

Conflict is not something that Jesse or I were raised to deal with in a healthy way. Avoidance or explosion were our examples. And our personalities tend toward keeping peace and going with the flow – being non-confrontational is in our DNA. BUT as we have experienced life and been thrust into a leadership position, dealing with conflict has been and continues to be a huge area of growth. Though we both have leadership capabilities, honestly neither of us want to be the leader… we both would MUCH rather be a helper to the leader. I think partly because we know handling conflict is part of the package when you’re in a leadership position. My anxiety level shoots up immediately even at the thought of it!  But we are where God has us and it seems to me He has us here because He knows that is exactly where we need to grow. Yay. (insert eye roll)

Difficulty. I am not looking forward to the difficulty that lies within the next several months. I mean… I know we can handle it. God is with us and our number one priority is to hear His voice and do what He says. We are confident He is with us, but I would much rather run away from the hard things right now. There is so much mess to be sorted out relationally and within ministry and the only part we can control (obviously) is on our end. I want to put the brakes on, take a step back for like a year and focus in on our family. Make home renovations a priority. Put up all the walls (both emotionally and physically). Keep all the mess out. Build our own little world that is full of joy and peace and a culture we understand and agree with. Hard things? No thanks.

This past Sunday during our morning worship time, my heart and mind were just not engaged. My head was spinning with all the ins and outs and what ifs of all the situations that are going on in ministry. I was angry and sad and asking God why and telling Him that I really just wasn’t up for dealing with it all. And then the last song of the worship set came on:

“You are worthy of it all

You are worthy of it all

for from You are all things

and to You are all things

You deserve the glory”

 And as we sang that chorus over and over, my heart softened, tears began to fall and my eyes saw clearly once again why we are even here in Haiti in the first place. We are here to bring Jesus glory – through conflict, through difficulty, through joy and celebration… it’s all for Him. As we handle conflict, invest time into conversations with difficult people, love those who only want to use us and start over in some areas, as we do it all in a Kingdom way, it is all for His glory. He is worthy of it ALL! No matter how much I don’t want to deal with it… He is worthy. No matter what it costs us… He is worthy. No matter what it looks like… He is worthy.

Keeping Hope Alive

Life is filled with ups and downs… this fact doesn’t take long for most of us to acknowledge. But the older I get, the more life I experience and the more I choose to see what’s going on around me, the more my eyes are opened to the reality of this sin-torn, fallen world.

I am a sensitive person. I take in what other people are feeling or dealing with to such a degree that I have to be very careful even with the kind of media I consume. Like I get INVOLVED with the story line and have a difficult time compartmentalizing the story from reality. So I’m sure you can imagine how all-consuming real life situations can become for me – whether happy or sad. It is usually quite easy for me to rejoice with those who are rejoicing and mourn with those who are mourning. I view this quality as a gift, but also am continuing to learn how to steward it because there is the potential that my emotions could be controlled by the situations swirling around me.

Within the past year or so there has seemed to be an onslaught of difficult situations that have either touched my life directly or the life of someone very dear to me (which with how I function is almost the same thing). I say this NOT to stir up sympathy for myself because I fully recognize that we all go through difficult seasons. I say this only to give context. There has been child-loss, miscarriage, breakdown of relationships and family, confusion within ministry and difficult decisions. There has been country-wide (Haiti) chaos and increased national instability. There has been community issue on top of community issue and the ever-present evil of poverty that loves to rear its ugly head in a manifold of ways. I hate to sound so pessimistic, but these are the realities that we have seen and been walking through.

I have had several conversations with different friends (both in and out of Haiti) about how to keep hope alive with all of these terrible things staring you in the face. I do NOT want to become that old angry missionary who has lost all love for people and all hope for change. How do we look at the harsh realities of life and keep hope alive? How do we endure the same conversation with the same person for the hundredth time and hope that maybe THIS time they will understand? That maybe THIS time there will be breakthrough? That maybe THIS time change will happen?

I have so many questions and am continuing to process through this (and honestly think I will be for a long time), BUT the truth that God keeps bringing me back to is that love “bears all things, believes all things, HOPES all things, endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:7) I want to be a woman filled and overflowing with the love of our perfect Father. That means that hope will flow through me into any and all situations. Hope that God will show Himself faithful. Hope that healing and restoration will happen. Hope that things can and will get better. Hope that today is the day of salvation. Hope that a miracle will happen. Hope for revival. Hope that Love will have His way.

I don’t have many practical answers on how to keep hope alive, but one thing I am standing on is that “in His great mercy He has given us new birth into a LIVING HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1 Peter 1:3 NIV)

To keep hope alive in my heart and life I must continue clinging to Jesus. I must remember that although it seemed that all was lost as Jesus hung on the cross, that He rose victorious over death, over sin and that He resurrected as our Living Hope. And as we follow in His footsteps, no matter what may come, HOPE is alive within us!