This past week I had the amazing opportunity to travel to and serve in Haiti through an organization called Mission of Hope. There were 12 women total; most of them old enough to be my mother. At first, I was a little discouraged being one of the youngest because I was afraid that I hadn't had enough experience to know how to handle certain situations, especially because this was my very first time in a foreign country. A couple days before I left the United States I started praying that God would prepare my heart and my mind for what I was about to do, and I asked him to give me the right words to say and the courage to say them.

~God answered my prayer~

One of the first days that we were in Haiti, we went to a village called Minoterie and I got the chance to sit down, one on one, with a 17-year-old boy named Doclove. I asked him about his family, his school, and his church. I soon learned that his parents didn't work and that he sold bracelets to provide for his family. He couldn't afford his own schooling but he did attend church at Mission of Hope church. He asked me if I love Jesus, and I replied with a smile on my face. "Yes, I do love Jesus very much." And what he replied was the answer to my prayer. He said, "I can tell. I can see that in your face. God sent you here." God was reassuring me through Doclove that I was in Haiti for a purpose.

~God opened my eyes~

Throughout the week, my team witnessed so much suffering, illness, and pain within just one of the villages in Haiti. What amazed us the most was when we asked if they had anything they needed prayer for, most of them asked for prayer that their faith stays strong.

~God transformed my life~

Sunday morning we attended Mission of Hope church where many Haitians from the surrounding villages attend. The preacher invited everyone to grab hands and offer up prayers as one church. Most of the room prayed aloud and it really put into perspective how big God is, because I heard prayers in both English and Creole and God heard every single one of them. Once the praying died down, the worship band starting playing "It Is Well." I looked around and watched the same Haitians that were ill, that slept on dirt floors, that had no job, that were widowed, that were orphans, that drank dirty water, worshipping God so passionately. They were singing the words, "it is well with my soul," in Creole, basically telling God that even though they do not have much, they are content because they know that they have God. Therefore, they have hope.

"We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that our suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope." Romans 5:3-4

Yes, I went to Haiti to change the lives of the people there, but in reality they too changed mine.