If you would have asked me one year ago
what the chances were that our family was going to be living in Haiti for a
year to do mission work, I would have told you it was slim to none. What a difference a year makes!
At the end of June 2013, we were wondering
about where God was calling us and recognizing that our time in Cambridge,
though wonderful, was drawing to a close.
We were sensing – and still sense – a long term call to church planting
in Ontario, but wondered if God might have something else on His mind for us to
do first.
On a Wednesday morning, at the same time, I
was in a coffee shop in Kitchener meeting with a pastor and Carol was in her
car on the way to Drayton where she teaches.
The pastor I was meeting with, Carel Geleynse, shared with me that he
and his family had been to Haiti for a year a decade earlier and I began to wonder
if we should consider Haiti for a year.
As Carol, now about 50 km away, was driving to school and praying, she
received a nudging in her mind to “consider Haiti.”
It dawned on us that this was more than a
coincidence and so after finding our five children – aged 7 to 22 –excited, we
sent off an email on the Monday morning to Christian Reformed World Missions
indicating our availability to serve in Haiti from the summer of 2014 to
2015.
After waiting out the week to hear back
from CRWM, we finally talked to Canadian Director Steve Kabetu on the Friday
following our Monday email. While not
recording the conversation word for word, it went something like this, with
Steve saying, “John, we wanted to check
our facts before we called you back because the day we received your email it
was too much of a coincidence. You have
offered to come for the summer of 2014 to the summer of 2015. One of our three missionaries in Haiti is
going to be on home service for that time.
However, we don’t typically replace missionaries when they leave the
field for home service. However, the day
you sent your email in, we received word that one of the two remaining
missionaries in Haiti will be resigning effective the summer of 2014. We see this as more than a coincidence, but
rather as a clear sign of God’s providence and sovereignty and urge you to do
the same.”
Over these past eight months, God has been
preparing us to go and we are ready!!!
