Lespwa fè viv.
The Haitian culture is rich with proverbs for every situation and area of life. We love this one: Lespwa fè viv. Hope gives life.
Isn’t that so true? Doesn’t hope help you endure the present hard circumstances, knowing that something better is coming? Doesn’t hope encourage you? Cause you to look with anticipation at the future?
Part of the mission of Laman Outreach is to give hope to 30 elderly people in a little village in Haiti. Hope that they won’t be hungry today. Hope that when they are ill, people will be praying for them. Hope that someone will be their friend and visit with them.
And in giving hope, we are really giving them Jesus. He is the Hope of the world. Look at this verse in Romans 15:13. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
We are starting to see hope take hold in the elderly in Merger de Sibert. When we were there in December, we added a frail woman who was obviously in need to our Elderly Project. She started to receive monthly provisions and her clothes were washed by volunteers at the church. Our Haitian project manager began to visit her regularly and to send us messages. “Erzilie needs to know Jesus in her life.” We started praying for her and her new sponsors prayed for her. Just a few weeks ago, we received a message from our project manager. “Yesterday Erzilie called us to pray with her and she knows Jesus right now. We are very happy to see that!”
We know that what started as a little seed of hope in Erzilie as her physical needs were met and as people showed they cared by visiting and praying with her, caused hope to abound in the God of hope. All glory goes to God for creating hope where there previously was none! He is doing a work in Haiti and we are so grateful that we get to be a part of it!