men anpil chay pa lou

I’m sure you’ve heard me say this before but let me just tell you again.

I. LOVE. MY. JOB.

Most days are pretty chaotic and stressful, but it’s always worth it. I love seeing happy kids get off the bus knowing that they are looking forward to a great time with their teachers each week. It just blesses my heart! This doesn’t mean that some days I don’t really want to pull my hair out because I wonder if they’ll ever sit down and be quiet long enough to soak in some of what we’re trying to teach… I actually feel that way quite often. But God has placed a passion in my heart for this ministry and knowing that totally overrides the frustrations that come along with it. On the days I really feel at the end of my rope, my kids go and surprise me in such huge ways… I gotta tell you about it!!

On Wednesday nights I teach the 3rd and 4th grade Caravans class at church. They arrive close to 7pm, we settle down for about 10 minutes, have a short lesson, and they have to get back on the bus at 8. I often wonder if they’re getting anything out of their time at church because even the ones that want to pay attention are distracted by the ones who don’t. Each week is so different from the week before. This week though was so monumental and I won’t soon forget it!

We finished our lesson and were talking as the kids were packing their things up to go home and sweet little Tania asked me, “Janette… can we pray for Haiti?” I hadn’t mentioned anything about Haiti all night. She came up with that on her own! I looked at her and told her “OF COURSE we can pray for Haiti!” So I told the other kids what was going on there and why we needed to pray. All of those sweet little ones were asking questions about how to help, how to pray, etc. and I was just so overwhelmed by their precious hearts! Then Emily asked me, “Can I give you money? Can we send it to Haiti?”

At that point I just started crying and so did my helper, Kathy. All these children started pulling dollars and cents out of their pockets and handed it to me so that I could send it to Haiti. The money hardly totaled $5 but it could have been $500. They were so sincere, so concerned, and so willing to help. They told me they wanted to bring more money next week and I assured them that I would get it to the right people. They asked if they could ask the church to give money also but I told them that had already been taken care of.

God just showed me that I totally underestimate these kids. Why in the world didn’t I expect that of them? They’re sooooo capable of loving… far greater than I do, in fact. There are so many things we can learn from children. That’s probably why I love my job so much. They teach me far more than I could ever teach them.

I pray that the Lord equips me to lead them and I pray that he speaks to YOUR heart in ways that you can make a difference in the life of a child. You will not regret it. I promise.

So, on behalf on my kiddos, I am going to ask you to make a donation to any sort of organization or fund that sends money to Haiti for supplies and medical care. Even if you want to just match the donation of the children in my class… just give $1. And I know these things are normally kept private, but if you don’t mind, would you tell me if you sent something and how much? I bet those great kids would love to hear how THEIR giving inspired others to do the same.

There are lots of ways to give. You can donate to World Vision, Compassion International, The American Red Cross…. I’m sure there are many others I can’t even think of. A really simple way to give is by texting the word “Haiti” to 90999. You’ll receive a text leading through a very simple process that will donate $10 to the Red Cross.

Anything helps. Even a dollar. Can you just imagine what God will do with the money those children gave?

There’s an old Haitian proverb that says, “Men anpil chay pa lou.” It simply means “Many hands make the load lighter.”

Let’s make the load a little lighter for our friends in Haiti. And if you are unable to give…. please pray. As I told my kiddos, if you think of Haiti this week simply pray by saying, “Lord, please be with the people of Haiti.”

Amen.

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