Final Keyword

The countdown to the New Year is on, and so is the countdown to Team Haiti's departure from KCI on the first day of the New Year.

Our final keyword is FLEXIBILITY! It's a good word for all of us, but it is an essential word on the mission field. If there is one thing we can count on, it is the knowledge that we can't count on anything going the way we planned. If things do happen as expected, we are thankful and try not to take it for granted. When things don't go according to plan, we look for what God is doing and try to jump on board His plan as quickly as possible.

A couple of years ago, our plan was to get on the bus and get out of Port au Prince as quickly as possible. We wanted to get to Christ the King in Merotte, set up our work site, greet old friends, and then get on our way to the hotel for a relaxing afternoon and evening after a tiring travel experience. What we got instead was 4 hours stuck in customs, paying various people to help us get through the system, and an arrival at the hotel just in time for a late dinner. Had our team not been talking about the importance of being flexible, our day would have been a lot different. We maintained a good sense of humor, and put our heads together to figure out when action was necessary and when we just needed to wait. God is good. He taught us that we are safe in His arms and in His plan. His timing in getting us to the hotel before dark was perfect. And we had great testimonies of God's goodness in moving us through a corrupt system fairly quickly, (the normal delay is days not hours), and of God's goodness in being able to distribute 300 backpacks and various school supplies--things that could have been taken by the customs officials.

I wonder how our days might go differently here in the states if we became intentional about being flexible. Flexibility means being open to what God has in mind for our day, instead of being intent on our own agenda. Something to think about for sure!

Here's to being FLEXIBLE in the New Year!

Lisa :)