[serialposts]I’ve really been having a tough time holding it together over the past week. Even as I sit here a few days after my return home, drinking my Rebo (Haitian Coffee), my eyes fill with tears as I think about the work I’ve done. I saw first-hand how stories have changed other people’s lives, and I don’t know that I’ll ever be the same either.
You see, all of last week I was in Haiti with a team of storytellers. This trip has been somewhat of a dream that’s been brewing since February. I was tagging along as a writer with Help One Now on one of their usual mission trips. I remember telling Chris Marlow that I felt overwhelmed with sheer magnitude of the stories that needed to be told. We needed to somehow get more storytellers on a trip together if we wanted to do them any justice.
The result was the Help One Now Bloggers trip to Haiti.
I think I expected some great stories to come out of this trip, but dear Lord… I sat and wept each night as I read the writers’ posts coming through. And yes, sometimes it was even the body-shaking, full-on, ugly cry.
Just to give you a frame of reference, here are just a few of my personal favorites:
- When People Feel Familiar by Jennie Allen
- In which I meet a mountain mover by Sarah Bessy
- Dear Mary: A Letter From Haiti by Mary DeMuth
- Mopping Haiti by Jen Hatmaker
- the lack of a family is the greatest form of poverty by Kristen Howerton
- My View From Haiti: Can. Do. by Deidra Riggs
- and then we danced by Duane Scott
Together these stories paint a beautiful picture of life in the poorest nation in the world. They bring us into the lives of the most resilient people whom I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. They paint a picture of what redemption and love and hope looks like. These stories change things.
But one thing I discovered unexpectedly on this trip is how deeply these stories changed us.
Just the other day I talked about how God changed our plans for our last day. The beautiful thing about it is that it gave us the opportunity to dream even bigger, beyond our short time together in Haiti. We decided to leave our mark on the place that left a visible mark on us. So together we’re planning how we’re going to leave our legacy.
The Help One Now Haiti Bloggers on the film set for our “legacy project.”
If this thing is going to work, it has to be more then just one of us on board with the vision. It’ll take all of us. That’s what I like about this dream… that it’s bigger than any one (or few) of us. In fact, it’s so big that we’ll need you too!
We’re in the process of of pulling together our launch for this B.H.A. (big, hairy, audacious) project as we speak, and I promise that you’ll hear more very soon. And we’re going to ask you to dream with us. We’re asking to dream with Haiti for a brighter future. We’re going to invite you into the story along with us.
Why?
Because we believe in the power of we.
I’m still trying to read all these stories. I can’t read much at once. It’s all so overwhelming and heartbreaking and amazing.
LOL… imagine how I felt reading one after the other after watching the team experience this stuff, and then back up the next morning to rinse and repeat… I’m still a wreck just from watching all that unfold the way it did…
Aren’t you ready to go now?
What do you think? 😉
🙂
I’m fervently praying about this. Wholeheartedly. You know that. And we’re talking, my groom and me. And God is moving. And I’m trusting.
Yes. And I will stand with you in prayer. And I’m trusting too. Keep an eye out for my series that deals with the questions you’ve sent me… those questions need to be unpacked…
I can’t tell you how much these stories moved me, as I eagerly waited for the reports to come in, every single one. The individual story-tellers painted a beautiful and stunning mosaic that reached us here in the states loud and clear. I am praying for all involved, ever since you went and ever since you got back. Lori
“mosaic”…. i like that. or maybe like a quilt. beautiful, huh?
It’s been an enriching and inspiring journey for me, following all of you to Haiti and back. Look forward to seeing how the dream unfolds, how we can play a part. Thanks for all the work you do to enlarge the Kingdom.
Thanks Shelly! And I have to say that stuff like this wouldn’t be possible without ALL of us! Together we enlarge the Kingdom!
I’m excited about the B.H.A. Legacy Project.
Nice conclusion, Dan!
Can I just tell you how much I love your great big heart, Dan? This is beautiful and all the stories of that week have been beautiful. Waiting to hear the BHAdream, that is for certain sure.
you’re a good man Dan…humbled to have been along on this trip. It has changed me (to say the least)