The Hardest Lesson of All

 On our way to Haiti last January, I wrote about the newspaper incident where I was gripped with fear after seeing the images of rioting in the streets of PaP. I was convinced that we were going to PaP to die.  But then a small voice said, "Don't look at the paper. Look at ME". I threw the newspaper away, and I felt flooded with peace. It was a valuable lesson.
  Last night, Michelle and I watched a program on TV called W5- Haiti's Agony. It was actually pretty good. I have become very sensitive to bad journalism, and we called out on the things that we saw that weren't entirely true representations, but it was pretty good. One thing that W5 never once mentioned was how many people are relying on God for their daily bread. It redefines "give us this day our daily bread" because our world here in North America already has it, whereas in the tent cities of PaP they don't. They don't have a home with value, a refrigerator, freezer, water filtration systems installed under the sink, they don't even have the sink. They don't have cars, savings accounts , retirement savings, and their names aren't on lists to get into the next retirement home when the chance opens up.
 W5 interviewed a 60 year-old woman, living with 3 children on a rooftop. It was mid-afternoon, and all she had eaten that day was a cup of coffee for breakfast. With former Hollywood actress Mia Farrow in tow, (why I'll never understand, but I digress) they learned that she was borrowing money from loan shark 2 to pay off number 1, then from 1 to pay 2. For supper tonight, she was trusting (God) to supply her with food for her children and herself.
 Their home was a rooftop, their beds were the  concrete rooftop, their rooftop was their sheets--- ALMOST A YEAR LATER!!!
  Our culture believes a pernicious  lie--- that we are ultimately in control of our own lives.  Nothing is farther from the truth. We need to understand that- desperately.


 In one week, we will leave for  Chicago, Illinois where we will do 4 days of pre-training. From there, we fly to Frankfurt, Germany; then down to Johannesburg, South Africa; then up to Harare, Zimbabwe. I'm sure it will be overwhelming at times, but we must trust God.
 After 7 weeks there, we will fly to Johannesburg, South Africa again. From there we are going on a 3 day safari to Kruger National Park, then down to Cape Town, South Africa for eight days. What we don't know is what all we will experience in the days coming, but we do know that we are going in God's time.  As much as we wished that we could control the timing on this one, we didn't. As much as we wanted  to be able to prepare for this trip at our own pace, we couldn't.
  I see it all around us, in our culture. We want to do things our own way. We are born that way. We'll do token prayers to God, because then we feel like we're including Him. That's not ever what he wants from us. He wants us to SUBMIT to him. "Jesus, take the wheel", became a popular song a few years ago. He will take the wheel, every time, we just have to ask Him. We need to hand over the controls. All we have to do is ask for  help, and the Help will come.  Many Haitians know this, we saw it time and time again.  I'm sure there are other places as well that are very dependant on God. The riches a society is, the less it needs God. "Give us this day our daily bread..... Lord, help us".