Because He Lives

Hello friends! My name is Lacey Higgins. I am from Pontotoc, MS; however, I currently live in Clinton, MS where I go to school at Mississippi College. I am a Sophomore Public Relations marketing major with a Christian Studies minor. I am in Kissimee Social Tribe. This spring break I went with this tribe to Haiti on a missions trip! If you want to know more, you can check out my blog.

 

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“Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.  Because He lives, all fear is gone.  Because I know He hold the future, life is worth the living just because He lives.”  Sunday morning, I (and a group of my Kissimee Social Tribe sisters from Mississippi College) walked into Bertin Church.   The music to this song started to play, and we sang along.  However, it was very different from any other time we sang this song.  When the music started to play, the people around us all started to sing unfamiliar words.  It was like God was giving me a glimpse of what Heaven is going to be like one day.

Revelation 7:9-10
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes, and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the lamb clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Let me explain: we were in Haiti on a mission trip through Praying Pelican Missions (PPM).  Everyone in the church looked different than us.  Everyone in the church spoke a different language than us.  BUT we all sang ONE song to the ONE true God.  It was beautiful.
We did a number of different ministries during our time in Haiti that included:

• School Ministries: We went to Bertin School and did VBS (Vacation Bible School).  We told a story and acted it out.  We also did some form of craft with the kids and sang some songs.

• Mercy Ministries: This was my favorite thing we did. We went into the community to people’s houses that were shut in for any reason (sick, broke leg, really old, etc.).  We would ask them questions about their life, tell them our story, and pray with them.

• ASCHA Ministries: ASCHA is a handicap orphanage. There were children with mental disabilities, children in wheel chairs, and healthy children.  Here, we told the same story we did at the school ministry and acted it out.  We also did crafts with them.

• Feeding Program Ministries: Here we served food to the children in the community who otherwise could not afford to eat.

• Women’s ministry: For this ministry, we went back to Bertin church. We invited women to come and hear us tell the same stories we did at the school ministry and ASCHA.  After reading the stories, we would go into some deep conversations.  It was a blessing.

 

We did three days of ministries.  The first day we told the story of The Good Samaritan (Luke 10).  The second day we did the story of The Lost Coin and The Lost Sheep (Luke 15).  We ended the week with the story of The Prodigal Son (Luke 15).  The kids at the school ministry loved watching us act out all the stories, but I think my team had even more fun watching the kids.  They have so little in Haiti, yet they have so much Joy.  They were proof that Joy does not have to be circumstantial if your Joy comes from the LORD.  The Joy of the LORD is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10).  I once heard it said, “I left to go on an oversees mission trip with the mindset that I was going to change their lives, but in reality, they are the ones who changed my life forever.”  This was my favorite part of the school ministries and ASCHA ministries: The kids gave me a new perspective on life.
There are two different women who we visited during our Mercy Ministries that I want to share with you.  The first one could barely walk.  She was a believer, but she was sad that she could not go to church anymore, so our trip leader (shout out to Melanie McCoy) asked her if we could have church right there in her home.  She agreed, so we sang a song that our team had learned in Creole.  It goes like this:

Verse:
M Konnen’w se Pitit la
Ou se anyo a
E ou se Kris la
M Konnen’w se Senye a
Dye Tou pisan
E Wa de Wa
Chorus:
E mewen adore’w
Mwen adore’w
Mwen adore’w Jezi
Bridge:
Ou se Premye e Denye
Alfa e Omega
Lyon Jida a
Pa gen lot

In English, this song says:

Verse:
I know you are the son
You are the Lamb
And You are the Christ
I know you are the LORD
God almighty
And king of kings
Chorus:
And I worship (or adore) you
I worship you
I worship you, Jesus
Bridge:
You are the first and the last
Alpha and Omega
Lion of Judah
No other

This reminded me of the church in Acts and early Christianity.  Churches then were small, and they met in homes.  Today, a lot of people think you have to have a huge nice church building to have church (there is nothing wrong with a big nice church building); however, you can have church no matter where you are.  The Bible says that where two or more are gathered, God will be there (Matthew 18:20).
The second woman taught me the most important thing I learned all week.  It is something I want to bring home with me and never forget.  When we walked in her home, she said, “I am ready to receive the gift that God has sent you to give to me.”  Now obviously she said it in creole, but our translator said that she was talking about prayer.  This old woman, who wasn’t even healthy enough to go to church and who lived in a small concrete house with no air condition (and Haiti is HOT) and a lot of other people, referred to prayer as a gift. A GIFT.  I think every Christian in America can learn from this sweet old lady.  The church as a whole in America tends to take prayer for granted.  We pray before our meals, we pray when we wake up and before we go to bed, and we pray when someone asks us to pray for them…IF THAT.  This woman talked about how she always had to pray by herself.  She was so excited that she got to have a group of people to pray with her now.  Prayer is a gift.  Before Jesus, you had to have a mediator to talk to God.  You had to go to a priest, but Jesus came as our mediator, lived a perfect life, died, and rose again.  Now, we have direct access to the creator of the world.  We have direct access to the most powerful being.  This is not something to take lightly or for granted.  We can talk to God.  HOW AWESOME IS THAT. Prayer is a gift, and that is something I hope never to forget.

The feeding program opened my eyes.  The kids would all line up super early. The food and water was free; all they had to do was bring a spoon with them to eat.  Our job was to pass out the bowls of food and cups of water. (By the way…all the cups were Mississippi State cups, so you know…. HAIL STATE…even in Haiti).  It was such a humbling experience.  The older kids would not take the food until all the younger kids had food.  When the younger kids got done eating, the older kids would pour the rest of their food into the younger kids bowl because they knew they were still hungry.  The kids were so selfless and always looked out for each other.  One day, a little girl lost her spoon and was bawling.  She did not want to go home without her spoon because she knew she would get a spanking.  Spoons.  Spoons are something we take for granted in America, but sometimes, there are families across the world that only have one spoon for their whole household.  That spoon is special to them, and they cannot take it for granted or lose it (“live simply so others can simply live”).  We have wayyyy too much while others have wayyyy to little.  What are you going to do about it?  I challenge you to answer this question without the answer being “nothing.”

The women’s ministry was special because we had discussion questions after each story.  This allowed us to hear and learn from them just as much as they were hearing and learning from us.  It is crazy to think that at the same time: we are so different, but we are so much alike.  The Good Samaritan: It is hard to stop for the helpless on the side of the road because we are busy.  We don’t have time.  They don’t look like us.  We think someone else will do it.  Sometimes we don’t pursue the lost like we should or celebrate as much as we should when someone is found.  This is what the Haitians said, and it is what we in America think as well.  People in Haiti struggle with the same things as we do in America (1 Corinthians 10:13).  You are not the only one going through whatever you are going through.  You are not alone, and God’s church is full of people ALL OVER THE WORLD praying for each other to stay strong.  We might have the same struggles as other believers all over the world, but we also have the same God who will give us a way out.

I had a blast and Haiti, and I cannot wait to go back.  Thank you for listening to my story. Love, Lacey Higgins

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God handpicked all of us that went on this trip together, and it would not have been possible with the rest of my team.  I asked them all to summarize their experience in one sentence and this is what they wanted to share with you: 

Muriel Collins:  Haiti is the ultimate example of how God’s grace is sufficient to all.

Kayla Shelby: When we follow His call to go, He shows us how unconditional His love is and how much He cares for His people.

Melanie McCoy (my awesome friend who got the trip together): Being the body of Christ and serving and worshiping with fellow believers give a tiny glimpse at what Heaven will be like.

Katie Callaway: While in Haiti, I experienced the ultimate richness of God’s love.

Katie Anne Collins: God loves and cares for His people, and the people of Haiti demonstrate God’s love and sufficiency everyday of their lives.

Leah Bowlin: “Look around you; see already your presence alone is dispelling the darkness.” –Sister Mona

Madison Burgess:  Haiti filled my heart with abounding love and peace as I learned that God is sufficient enough to supply everything I need and more.

Mary Heath: God is sufficient, whether in times of celebration or storm.

Bailey Herbert:  The love of god is so alive and moving, and Haiti is no exception; Worshiping and serving with the church there blessed my soul in more ways than I could count.

Jessica Bacon: God is good all the time.

Brittney Burgess:  Haiti is a place that showed me what it means to say that our joy and worship are not based on our circumstances.

Brenda McCoy (one of our wonderful chaperones): Our great God calls each of us to go and when we are obedient to Him, He will use us and stretch us and grow us more than we could ever imagine for His glory.

Katie Breland: Visiting Haiti was life changing, and I realized we are all one by Christ no matter the differences.

Mrs. Donna (our other amazing chaperone):  We are truly one in the Spirit.