September | 2019 | royaltyintrainingblog

One of my favorite weeks of the year was just last week, staying in Port Au Prince with the elder advisory team. It’s my second annual trip working with my stateside team, the first having been my first week in Haiti last fall, visiting elders and having planning meetings until we can’t think straight for another second. I hope to remain at least in some way involved with this team and their work for a long time to come.

One of the definite highlights of that week was using a “pocket talker” with some of our elders who are hard of hearing. It’s a portable microphone and headset that allowed us to communicate and worship together freely for the first time with a few of them!

Our schedule was quickly abandoned due to literal roadblocks and we spent our week circumventing problems and allowing God to direct each day. And, as we wrapped up what we could accomplish, we found gratitude in the unexpected extra time we had together. And, even though I never got to circle back to my own apartment for the luggage I was hoping to bring, I traveled back to the states late Thursday night for a 10-day furlough.

Over the past two weeks, the world has lost some wonderful and influential people. I am personally aware of two of them, and I will do my best to tell a bit of their stories without sharing identifying information. I believe that their stories belong to their families first.

We woke up one morning last week to the tragic news that a young woman from Hope Church had died overnight. She was a leader serving in multiple capacities in the church, and she had been fighting a serious medical condition. While it is impossible to go back and exhausting “What if’s” is pointless, I have to consider that if she had access to better medical care and earlier intervention, she might not have died.

I attended her church in Cite Soleil two days later, where the pastor spoke about her and God’s timing and the security of knowing you are saved. I watched as people of all ages made their way forward to follow her example of salvation, and I briefly thought that she would probably have happily forfeited her life to know it brought others to Christ. Would I?

Today, I attended another church service, this time in a suburb of Minneapolis, this time a funeral for a friend and former coworker. He also had survived a serious medical condition for years, and although he had access to great medical care, he had passed away suddenly in his own home. He was, without a doubt, one of the kindest men I knew, always eager to help anyone and everyone. We hadn’t had many conversations about faith, but it seemed to me that his was deep.

One of my fondest memories of him was the time he marched out to help one of our other coworkers jumpstart their car one snowy afternoon, admitting as he headed out the door that he had no idea how to do it. In the end, it took three CPAs to jumpstart that car, but he was going to be out there supporting, even if only armed with moral support. On one of my first trips to Haiti, he donated a stamp collection for me to sell and raise funding. His encouragement has always meant a lot to me.

Several individuals stood at the funeral and shared about how his life and faith had impacted them, and the pastor presented a simple salvation message. As I sat, surrounded by former officemates and even a couple of his clients, I was again struck by how influential a person’s death can be. His consistent example of service, kindness and faith will be his memorial. What will mine be? What will any of ours be?

It doesn’t matter where in the world a person lives. We are all visitors, trying our best to make a difference and find happiness with the time we are given.

I also spent time this past weekend in celebration! A good friend of mine married her best friend, and I was honored to be there for it. Amidst a lot of difficult news, it was wonderful to take a deep breath and appreciate the people I have.

I don’t know the best way to wrap up this particular blog. Pray for Haiti as protests continue. Pray for yourself and the impact your life is having. Pray for your friends who have lost loved ones because there are grieving people in your life every day whether or not they tell you. Hug a friend. Make a friend. Call your mom. Do whatever you know you need to do. Pray. And allow God to hear you. Allow God to direct you. And trust that you are an incredibly influential person. Use that influence to share Christ’s love.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,