3 years ago I was working with my Disaster Response team at the UM Children's Home in Atlanta. I was up to my eyeballs in spackling and sheetrock dust when a car pulled up and a friend got out and hollered, "Heidi, the North Georgia Conference Chair requests your presence at a meeting!" I thought, "Well, surely after wiping the spackling off of his hands from our handshake, he will see that is a silly request." But he insisted that I was needed at the meeting. So, I brushed off my boots as best as I could and asked my team to carry on without me.
During our drive to the meeting, my friend filled me in on the meeting details and I wondered what was so important about my presence at this meeting??? The meeting was fairly straightforward and my meager presence was of no importance, at least I thought. Prior to our closing prayer, a sweet, mature lady stood up and made a plea for medical personnel to complete their team going to Haiti in 3 weeks on a medical mission trip. I thought, "Wow, 3 weeks, that's ambitious." She explained the desperate need of a permanent clinic to be established following the earthquake - I was intrigued. A short term mission trip with a long-term goal - awesome! I raised my hand and volunteered, but I never expected to receive a phone call. To my surprise, Mrs. Martha called me the next day and told me the details of the trip - I thought, "Okay, that was odd, God what are you up to?" I explained to her that Nick had just lost his job, but I would talk to my church to see if they would help raise the funds for the trip. In 2 Sundays, my sweet little church raised enough funds to cover my entire trip! Well, I guess I was on my way to Haiti in 3 weeks - YIKES! This trip was different and WAY out of my comfort zone.........I didn't know any of the team members and Nick wasn't going! What was I thinking, what was God thinking??? He was leaving breadcrumbs.
Once I got to Haiti, it was amazing and our team was amazing! I met a very sweet man during this trip, Dr. Mike Poss. He was so gentle and caring and his Christ-like attitude was contagious. Our team set up a clinic with a pharmacy and trained Haitian doctors and nurses to run the clinic. It is still in operation today - Praise God! One of my tasks in the clinic was to give each patient a cross and say, "God loves you." in Creole - this was quite challenging. Mike had a nickname for me, "the EMT" (the Evangelical Medical Technician - cute, huh?). Mike also has a great sense of humor. I admired Dr. Poss as I learned about many of the places around the world that he had shared Christ's love and his medical talent. We talked a few times following our trip to Haiti and entertained the idea of doing another mission trip with our families in South America, but it never transpired.
Fast-forward 3 years.......... when Nick and I felt led to be missionaries we told our friends and family what God had planned for us, including Dr. Poss. I sent him our monthly newsletters and other updates about our ministry over this past year. And as our fundraising progressed, Nick and I started reaching out to individuals about supporting our mission to Kenya. I thought of Dr. Poss and our brief time of service in Haiti, so I called him to see if we could arrange a time to talk about the path God has laid before us in Kenya.
During our correspondence, God revealed His well-planned path that He had laid out many years ago. Dr. Poss proceeded to tell me that some years ago, he went on a medical mission trip to Kenya and he worked with our ministry partner, Pastor Simon! He and his medical team set up a temporary clinic in Pastor Simon's orphanage (the Good Shepherd Home) in Kenya. Mike began to name many of the Kenyan pastors that we met in November who are now waiting our return so we can serve along side them. He knew the Good Shepherd Home, he knew Pastor Simon's family and he knew the town we will call home next year. This brought tears to my eyes and I thanked God for His well-placed plans. Dr. Poss shared with me that he has thought a lot about returning to Kenya to do another medical mission trip and that he would love to hear more about God's plan for our family. God is good!
I think back all those years ago when my "presence was requested" to attend a meeting, and I now see that God's plan has come full circle. This is just one of many God stories that Nick and I have as an example of His reaffirmation of our calling to Kenya. I thank God for His breadcrumbs along the way to let us know that He has the road-map of our lives, all we need to do is say, "Yes, Lord."
No comments:
Post a Comment