Monday, April 30, 2012
Monday, April 16, 2012
Why I am inspired to go to Haiti on a medical mission trip…..
(I was asked by another blog to write about why I am inspired to go to Haiti. Here is my article.)
Once I held little scrawny Alberto in my arms, I could never forget him. He was a ten month old baby boy wearing just a raggedy red t-shirt. I was in love the minute he smiled up at me with his big brown eyes. After his brother let me hold him for about 30 minutes, Alberto tried to hold onto my neck when it was time for us to depart. It broke my heart when he kept reaching for me as his brother carried him home while my team returned to our transportation to take us to our mission team housing at the end of that first day.
I met little Alberto in a bateye called Algodon in the Dominican Republic while on a mission trip with the Foundation for Peace. (See: www.foundationforpeace.org) Our team came from the US to work in partnership with their local church, and to build a clean water system for the whole community. The bateyes are a village of shacks created to house the Haitian migrant workers who are willing to work in the Dominican Republic sugar cane plantations. There are rats and snakes in these sugar cane fields and the work is extremely difficult for very low pay.
Alberto was being cared for by his six year old brother because his parents worked in the sugar cane field from sunrise to sunset. Most of the workers we met had no gloves or shoes, so they suffered much while doing this type of slave-like labor cutting down sugar cane by hand with machetes.
After a week of working together with their local church and making many friends the water was flowing through the filtering system. There was great celebration when there was clean water for all. These people had been barely surviving on the stagnant water in the irrigation canals. Now, instead of water that was brown and green with many contaminants, they had clean pure tasting water. The people told us that first day that they didn’t know water could look so clear!
I fell in love with little Alberto and his family and friends that week a few years ago. I continue to feel the nudging of the Holy Spirit to seek more ways to share the blessings and talents I have received during my comfortable life in the US.
We are all members of one global family and I look forward to meeting more of my global family in Haiti. I will be traveling with student nurses from the University of Pennsylvania under the leadership of their professor, Carrie Steele. I offered to help shepherd this group of student nurses as they work in a health clinic providing free healthcare to new mothers and babies in a town called Fond Parisien outside of Port au Prince. I am a psychiatric nurse therapist and a Presbyterian pastor so I will help to guide the students and provide healthcare teaching and pastoral counseling. A friend from church (see www.pcmorristown.org), Susan Perry, a Yoga Master, has offered to join us to teach Yoga. She plans to teach the new Haitian mothers simple Yoga techniques to benefit their health and will help the student nurses learn Yoga to de-stress after working all day in the clinic. Please keep us all in your prayers! Our team will be in Haiti from May 3-10th.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Washing One Another's Feet
"Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you." (John 13: 14-15)
When Christ washed the feet of his disciples, he was demonstrating how they were to go to the world and care for others. The humble giving of footwashing showed great love.
"In the story of the footwashing, then, we have the most profound revelation of the heart of God apart from the crucifixion itself. We also learn more of the relation between Jesus and his disciples, the relation of the disciples with one another in humble service and the mission of the disciples to the world." (http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/John/Jesus-Washes-Disciples-Feet)
Where do you wash other's feet? That may sound disgusting, but it was much more disgusting when the people in Jesus's time wore sandals and walked many days without washing. My son is a Podiatrist. Part of his education included caring for the feet of the homeless in a free foot clinic in Harlem every week. It was such an important humbling experience for all the students at the New York College of Podiatric Medicine to begin caring for the "least of these." At first it was difficult for my son and most all the students to deal with the stench, gangrenous injuries, and disease in those neglected feet. But after getting past the first few times of working in this clinic, it became one of his favorite training experiences because he developed relationships with the people who came on a regular basis. Despite the horrible condition of their feet, all the students learned to treat each person (who happened to be homeless for a variety of reasons), with respect and good healthcare.
God wants each of us to do likewise in whatever form of service we are able. Maybe you can wash another's feet by walking alongside them to the doctor when they are afraid of the diagnosis. Maybe the washing you can give is through providing a listening presence to a hurt soul who is desperately alone but is ashamed to ask for company. Maybe you can wash another's feet by bringing them to church when they are afraid to walk in alone. Pray for God to show you how to wash another's feet and reach out beyond your comfort zone to provide God's love through your humble service. Our Outreach Committee has many great ideas for helping “the least of these” in our world. See our Outreach section of our website at: http://www.pcmorristown.org
The gift of yourself will bring blessings not just to the receiver, but also to the humble giver. For God so loved the world!
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