Three weeks ago, I attended a prayer meeting that ignited FAITH within my heart to believe God for something BIG.
You see, I had a heavy heart because a category 4 hurricane was heading straight towards our Coreluv orphanage off the coast of Haiti. The storm’s name was Matthew and I shuddered at the thought of him striking our family. As I sat burdened during the prayer meeting that morning, God began breathing His FAITH inside of me to run speedily into the ARMS of the one who controls it ALL! His breath of faith came in the form of a beautiful prayer prayed that morning:
“Jesus, we know that a large storm is heading towards Haiti. We know that you can do anything. Jesus, we pray that you’d work a miracle in the midst of the storm and we pray that the ministries represented here will be able to tell stories about how you rescued them!”
This prayer, short and simple, changed my perspective! Sometimes God doesn’t cause the storm to DISAPPEAR. Instead, sometimes God meets us in the MIDST OF THE STORM! There may have been a storm coming, but our team was going to take refuge in a BIG GOD and His peace would be our shelter!
In the days leading up to hurricane Matthew, Coreluv made preparations in Haiti by purchasing large bags of rice and beans. In the event of a food shortage, our team would be ready! Days later after the storm was over, our full-time missionary in Haiti, Jake Sangster, gave us the following report:
It’s nothing short of a miracle! 125 people from our local community came out for two nights to seek shelter from hurricane Matthew inside of Coreluv’s church and clinic (located in the village of Myan.) Our facilities in Myan are out of the flood zone which added extra peace of mind. Pastor Johnny (who pastors our church in Myan), along with our Coreluv missionaries were there to welcome the local families and to minister Jesus to our community.
The shelter quickly turned into a prayer and worship service!
The category 4 hurricane that was expected to DEVASTATE our area, miraculously moved WEST as it made its way up the coast! The wind only reached a speed of five miles per hour where we were. This was truly a miracle! Because of this, we played board games and enjoyed pop corn together. When we awoke the next morning, birds were chirping and the sun was streaming through the clouds. In spite of all this, we knew DEEP in our hearts that we had been DELIVERED and we were grateful! Hurricane Matthew caused NO damage to any of our facilities or to the surrounding village.
Although safe, gathering together for those two nights illuminated something else for me. It illuminated a NEED existing within the community of Myan. Extreme poverty is still prevalent here. One woman’s need impacted me the most. On the second day of our shelter, I received news that an elderly widow attempted to reach us but was unable to. She had severe arthritis.
When I heard about this widow, I sent our Coreluv truck out to pick her up. Not only did she have arthritis, she had typhoid too from not having any clean water to drink. This was NOT OK with me! I had our Coreluv doctor who was at our clinic examine her and give her all of the appropriate medicine she needed. We also supplied her with purifying tablets for her drinking water. I understood then that Coreluv had just scratched the surface of what God desires to do within this beautiful community and I felt God’s pleasure when we were able to provide for this widow.
When the storm had passed, a swarm of people shuffled out of our temporary shelter. Remember the bags of rice and beans we purchased before the hurricane? We had just ENOUGH to give each family a bag. Each bag is estimated to feed 200 people! Our community was SO very thankful! We know that it was NOT Coreluv who provided, but JESUS himself. The looks of gratitude on their faces are some I will remember for a long time!
This was NOT a handout. It was a HAND. A hand that God commands us to open to our neighbors in need. For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.” (Deuteronomy 15:11)
To the ones in Haiti who were not as fortunate when hurricane Matthew arrived, our hearts ache. Hurricane Matthew devastated the southern peninsula of Haiti leaving hundreds dead, destroying crops, animals, and clean water sources for many. Coreluv is teaming up with Somebody Cares International in aiding the real needs that we have been made aware of in the affected area. Through our relationship with SCI, we desire to open our hands to the less fortunate victims of Hurricane Matthew. As more information is gathered, we will make our partners aware.
Mandy Resizner