July 16 – Randy

Hi everyone.  My name is Randi Schieber and I’m a student on Hope for Haiti Team 3.  I’m a Senior at the University of Wisconsin studying Civil Engineering.  Here’s a little update:

Last night we got to go spend some time at Chambrun, a Haitian village near our compound.  We were able to play with the kids of the commuinty while supply kits were distributed to their families.  I really didn’t know what to expect, so no matter what we experienced when we got to Chambrun I knew I was going to be surprised.  The evening was filled with soccer, football, picture taking, the hokie pokie, lots of laughs, and just taking in everything around us.  Even though we were having so much fun with the kids, the poverty ridden state of the commuinty is undeniable.  We finished the evening with a showing of the children’s version of the Jesus Film in Creole.

When we got back to the compound I was still processing everything I had experienced, so I decided to go up to the roof, my favorite place on the compund, to spend some time to think and talk with God.  The view from our roof is great!  You’re surrounded by mountains and Port-au-Prince is just off in the distance, at night you can even see the lights from the city-it’s pretty incredible.  As I took in the view I found myself praying for Port-au-Prince and Chambrun.  I’ll be honest, sometimes it’s really hard for me to pray for Haiti and last night was no different.  Sometimes there just seems to be so much to do, the outlook is just too bleak for me to pray for.  ( I know that when I step back from that statement it doesn’t really make sense, but that’s definitely a trap I tend to fall into)

As I was lost in a little bit of a feeling of hopelessness, I heard familiar chords of “Oh How He Loves Us,” coming from the other side of the roof.  I migrated over to join in the impromptu worship session and the words of the first verse really began to resonate in my heart:

“All of a sudden I am unaware of these affliction eclipsed by glory, and I realize just how beautiful You are and how great Your affections are for me”

Then it hit me, the God I sing about in the song, the God I love and who has great affections for me, He loves every Haitian that same way!  Right now He is pursuing their hearts so that their own afflictions might be eclipsed by His glory as they enter into a relationship with Him!  Isn’t that amazing, even if we could somehow fix every physical problem faced by Haitians, those solutions can’t even hold a candle to the Hope offered in that relationship.  I finished the evening worshiping with the new friends I would swear I’ve known longer than four days and left the roof filled with a new hope that wasn’t there when I had gone up.

Thanks,

Randi Schieber