Missionary Life -- Mesi Bondye Mesi

“Jesus wants us to touch human misery, to touch the suffering flesh of others. He hopes that we will stop looking for those personal or communal niches which shelter us from the whirlpool of human misfortune and instead enter into the reality of other people’s lives and know the power of tenderness. Whenever we do so, our lives become WONDERFULLY COMPLICATED and we experience intensely what it is to be a people, to be part of a people.” Pope Frankie – Joy of the Gospel

My recent trip to Haiti showed me how the poorest country in the western hemisphere has everything they will ever need and how much I truly lack, they have love and they give love.  Without asking questions, Haitian culture takes in a stranger and feeds them even if they don’t have any food to give they will often give the food off of their own plate.  My favorite Haitian custom is that they GREET EACH AND EVERY PERSON that they pass.  A simple hello to a passing stranger, recognizing the dignity in the other person, man if I could explain how much my heart grows when that happens. 

We visited a prison in An Se Vau, a place where no human should ever have to live; an 8 x 8 cell with 35 grown men, in little to no clothing, sharing two 5-gallon buckets for water and bathroom.  One young man, 19 years old, had been there for 18 months because a cow that lived next door went missing.  He has yet to see a judge.  I was asked to share my story with the cell of teenage boys; my heart was full of love for them.  I told them of the time I was sitting in the same place (in America) as them.  How when I had made the dumbest decision in my life, God did not abandon me, but was in fact very close to me.  Scared and alone in my cell I cried out to our Lord.  I knew a glimpse of their pain and desolation.   I felt the gaze of Christ upon me.  I will never forget their eyes; their eyes pierced my soul as I shared my story with them.   I reached in to shake their hands, to touch Christ and they thanked me; little me, they thanked, in that moment again I could see the face of Christ.

Cathedral in An Se Vau

We ran around and played tag with kids off of the street, praised loud in the Cathedral at An Se Vau, we played soccer for hours, we went to many homes and visited with them, we went up to the Monastery and prayed with the Sisters, we prayed over Haiti on the roof we sang praises to God.  We visited the orphanage next door to the Monastery, and we were blessed (twice) by the head priest at the Monastery.  We talked, we prayed, we laughed and loved; we received far more than we could have ever given to the Haitian people.   For the longest time, seeing how scripture could come alive in my life was hard, when I visited Haiti the first time, I realized that scripture is not something of 2000 years ago, but is very much alive today.  My heart desires the simplicity of Haiti to be lived out in America; however, there is a people that I will visit often and always pray for.  Mesi Bondye Mesi – Thank you God Thank You.

Sitting in a coffee shop, typing this, my heart is full of love and joy.  In 2016, my word for the year was abundance.  As I prayed through last year before choosing a word, I remember tossing a few around.  When abundance appeared I knew God was calling me to trust him in a new way.  2016 has been filled with abundance; abundance of love, of mercy, of prayers, of confusion, of direction, of support, of healing, of hope, of trust, and of JOY.  My greatest desire is to love and be loved.  To be known is to be loved and to be loved is to be known -- to love as I have been loved; that each and every person whom I encounter may encounter Christ, knowing and praying that he alone can fulfill their deepest desires, wishes, hopes, dreams, and needs.  Love is very much a choice, one that I pray I can choose every second of every day.  I want to see others for their virtues not their faults, I want to touch their suffering hearts, giving them the truth that Christ desires to heal them, and setting the world on fire with the love of Christ.  There is no one to far from the reach of Christ.  If only we have the 20 seconds of insane courage to get outside of ourselves and put on the love of Christ for each person. 

Thank you very much for your generosity.  Thank you for joining me on this mission this year.  Thank you for believing that God has called me to something greater than I could ever imagine.  Thank you for wanting to serve God through your hearts and your finances.  Thank you for being you; you are always WELCOME with me, you are ENOUGH, and you are LOVED.  

JOIN THE MISSION NOW!!! donate.lifeteen.com/jcorsey

--Live Love--