Hello Haiti
We arrived in Port au Prince on Monday morning and I had such a big plan ...I had an expectation of the awesome way God was going to use me to minister to the people of Haiti, only with my 30 years of plumbing experience but also with my love for our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus.
Hello my brothers and sisters and my family members. My name is Clayton Phillips. I am from Napa California and I came to Haiti to help.
We left the airport and were driven through Port au Prince by a driver with the reflexes of an amped up ninja.....a total blessing considering that I didn't see one traffic light.
As we went I watched the city out of the window of our air conditioned van. The broken appearance of the city and the garbage in the streets was heartbreaking. As mile after mile after mile rolled past the magnitude of what I had come into began to overwhelm me.
Me....I....Myself...a man who is in control....a boss....a father, husband...a Fixer After about 2 hours of driving through the city with no end in sight I was reduced to tears. I realized that I had absolutely nothing to offer in the face of what I was seeing. When we arrived to Grand-Goave I was almost completely in my head. The Haiti Arise compound seemed like an oasis of hope in the middle of what i was perceiving as a hopeless landscape. We met the leaders...got settled.....took a nap and toured the campus. I stayed quiet and fairly numb i figured I would just wait....keep my head down and follow orders allowing God to show me what He wanted from me organically. We attended church that night...Monday night...Pastor Wade informed us that the church was having worship and prayer service every night this week. At this church service I realized why God brought me to Haiti...the answer hit me in the face as soon as I walked into the worship!
God brought me to Haiti so that His people living here could minister to me. God brought me to Haiti so that His people here could pray for me. God brought me to Haiti because this is where I needed to be to GET help.
As these brothers and sisters began to worship with complete abandon, my heart was filled with Gods love in a way I had not expected. I was humbled and filled.....I was born again, again !!!
These faithful Christ Followers that live and make a home in a space that I would call the master bathroom at my house, opened their village and their church to me. They shared their worship and their love of Christ with me, and as I wept through half of the service I was built up the second half. I didn't need to understand the spoken language to fully understand what they were saying.
This isn't my mission...this is the Haitians mission...I was brought to Haiti so that Gods people could bring me His light...love me with His heart...minister to me. Thank You God and Thank You Haiti Arise ! ! !
Talk to you all in a few days....oh....I love You Christine and Cameron and Caitlin and Kyle and all my friends and family.....a better man will be returning back home thanks to Jesus and the Haitian people !
