“Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Luke 18:17
The children in the attached photo attend the Lutheran school in Bois Marchand which is located on the North edge of Gonaives in the northern claw of Haiti. It was about 11:15 when this photo was snapped and it must have been 100 degrees in this ‘airy’ building. The children had put down their school books, washed their hands from a white plastic bucket, said their prayers and their food was brought to them by the teachers.
Visiting Trinity HOPE feeding programs can sometimes almost make me weep when I consider what these children are going through every day; every day after day after day living in Haiti. What do you suppose the little boy on the right side of the second desk is thinking about, he has a thoughtful stare on his face? His name is Richard (Ree-shard) and he approached me before I left and through an interpreter he thanked me for the feeding program as his school. I gave him a big hug and my sunglasses prevented him from seeing moisture in my eyes. Thank you, for the feeding program at his school and the other 255 schools in Haiti. Richard places his trust in Jesus as every day this plate of food arrives at his desk in Bois Marchand; a plate of hope where there is little hope to go around. Frances Havergal wrote the words to the hymn ‘I am trusting Thee, Lord Jesus’ in 1874 and they provide comfort His children when this world tells us there is no hope.
“I am trusting Thee, Lord Jesus, trusting only Thee; trusting Thee for full salvation, great and free. I am trusting Thee for pardon; at Thy feet I bow, for Thy grace and tender mercy trusting now. I am trusting Thee for cleansing in the crimson flood; trusting Thee to make me holy by Thy blood. I am trusting Thee to guide me; Thou alone shalt lead, ev'ry day and hour supplying all my need. I am trusting Thee for power; Thine can never fail. Words which Thou Thyself shalt give me must prevail. I am trusting Thee, Lord Jesus; never let me fall. I am trusting Thee forever and for all.”
Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you,
Jay