Raising up Samuel's

God's doing something daily in Haiti. I never expected I'd blog this much but I can't keep this stuff to myself. Our team went to Camp Corail the other day, which is one of the largest IDP camps with about 2,000 families, to share the Gospel. They asked me to stay to translate and minister to the people here in the medical clinic's waiting room. At the clinic, we were able to pray with a family who shared that they had been Christian but after the earthquake, had lost everything (their house, all their clothes) and had stopped going to church, primarily because they didn't have clothes to wear to go to church. We shared that the most important thing was your personal relationship with God and your outward appearance isn't what matters to God, but it's still heartwrenching. The awesome thing was that the mom did come to church with her beautiful baby that Sunday, and we were able to pray with them again.

But back to the trip to Camp Corail: When the team got back from the IDP camp, one of the staff members, Hsiang-en Tsui shared that he had met a woman whose baby who was only one day old. She was a Christian before the earthquake and before she became pregnant, but because of difficulty conceiving a baby, she became frustrated with the Lord and walked away from God. She became pregnant and regained faith in the Lord, but three months later the earthquake hit. She was on the third story of a building but survived the earthquake and because of the experience, she knew that God loved her and her unborn baby. She understood God's providence and plan for her. She has continued her faith since, even through the hardships of living in an IDP camp while pregnant, and having to give birth to a baby in the tent where she lives, in the bed where she sleeps. While we sat and talked, we learned that the baby did not have a name, and Hsiang-en suggested 'Samuel" (pronounced 'Sam-well' in Creole) because the woman's story was similar to the story of Hannah and her son Samuel in the bible (1 Samuel 1-2). The woman liked the name and told her husband, who had just walked into the tent. He agreed that the name was good and they took it.

When the staff leader shared that story, one of my friends, Daniel, burst out laughing. And I was like, what's so funny? He reminded me that while we were praying a few mornings ago, I had read Hannah's prayer, and asked God to raise up Samuel's in Haiti, to stir up a spiritual revival in this country. It's crazy how I had completely forgotten that, but it was just evidence that God is at work here like whoa, answering prayers and raising up leaders in the next generation. Please join me in praying for this generation and all that God has for Haiti.