Three Stories & A Picture …

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It’s hard to judge and determine the level of impact than a person makes on other people.  This has been especialy true for us being missionaries here in Haiti.  Culture and all sorts of other factors come into play, which make it difficult to assess just what we have been able to do here, or at least from a relational perspective.  And finding the balance between meeting one’s physical needs as well as spiritual needs is also quite difficult and, at times, frustrating.  I mean sure we meet the spiritual needs of our students through a biblcal education (or at least we try with all of our hearts), but we don’t always have the chance to meet their physical needs …

I have a Bible College student named Timajeune, and he is a very interesting guy; in fact he was the one that admitted to me last year that the only reason he came to Sonlight Bible College was to learn English.  Through the process of Sonlight Bible College meeting his spiritual needs, though, he has since changed his life and become a Christian.  He by no means is perfect, but he certainly is heading in the right direction.  Timajeune is also one of our poorest students; I mean he has major physical needs.  But unlike some of our other students he actually has a skill:  he is a very good carpenter, the problem is that their simply isn’t much work for him around here, and the materials are extremely expensive and hard to find.

Our Bible College Director Lenny, has given him some jobs in the past and his carpentry work is very nice. We then decided that we would also give him some carpentry work to do:  we needed some end-tables for our bedroom and living room and we needed some trim in our kitchen so that we could hang up Micah’s bouncer.  Timajeune did these things quickly and skillfully for us, and was not going to charge us anything except the cost of the materials; however, I was not about to let him not get paid for his work, especially since I knew that he desperately needed it.  Like I said, finding the balance between meeting both physical and spiritual needs is rather difficult, but often doable.

Once of the most interesting things about this issue is when the students feel the same way about us (and this is not something I expected, I must admit).  In class it’s hard to sense any appreciation from the students for what we do as teachers.  Now, I must say up front that appreciation is not something you expect as a teacher and certainly not the reason you do what you do.  However, it is nice sometimes to know that what you are doing is appreciated and making a difference.

When I got sick with kidney stones a month ago, I was in so much pain that I didn’t know what to do.  Fortunately, at the Bible College, we have two new students who are local doctors.  I had both of these students in class, and so I was very comfortable with them, and so Lenny arranged for one of them to come over and see me.  Remonville came over that day to my house to see me, and then he came back and took me to the hospital to have my tests done.  While we were at the hospital he moved me through any line or possible wait, and made sure I had the best care.  After he was finished with me, I asked him how much I owed him, but he simply refused to let me pay him.  His help and care were out of gratitude and appreciation for our student-teacher relationship (and Christian brotherhood as well), and so I was very overwhelmed by it.

Finally, sometimes caring for people’s needs simply means listening to who they are and what they like, because the interest you take gives them a sense of value.

I found out in January, that one of my other Bible College students is an artist.  This was very exciting because Lorraine and I enjoy looking at artwork, and we especially enjoy looking at Haitian art.  The problem is that there simply isn’t any in Port-de-Paix, or so we thought.  After finding out about his artistic interest and skill, I asked him to bring me some pictures to show me his work.  I think that he was a little surprised, but a week later he brought me pictures and showed me what he had created.  After looking at it, I was very excited and asked him how much he would sell it for, but he never really gave me an answer.  In March, though, I stopped teaching the class and so I never really got a chance to see him anymore. but apparently he did not forget me or my interest in his art.  About two days ago, Lenny came to one of my evening classes to give me something.  I looked at it and it was a medium-sized picture frame with Inerald’s name on it and my name on it.  Lenny told me that he created this painting for me to give it to me.  I was a little blown away, because I haven’t seen him since February, and he did not even ask for money for it.  (You can see the picture at the top)

As we conclude this year with only 8 days of school left, it has been awesome to see what God has been doing whether we know it or not:  meeting students needs, but also meeting our needs.  I don’t assume finding the balance between spiritual needs and physical needs is ever going to be something that we completely figure out, but at least we know that God is at work and he will show us how to do it as we move forward