(Photo taken at the Zachary family's ministry, the rescue center and medical clinic. They have been in Haiti many years.)Written by Britt & Tara
A few things have hit us in the past few days. God used Lori and Licia to help us see things the way HE sees them. We are really glad He did.
The two situations in which they spoke to our hearts...
1. Sophia-
We were feeling discouraged over Sophia's birth family not being very kind to us. We were bummed out that they were complaining to us about our help not being enough. We would even say we were angry with them earlier in the week. Licia and Lori wrote these words that were a great reminder:
... It's sad.....and frustrating. We know how you feel. Do the best you can. It's really up to the family... Help them if you want to and feel called to... Do it for the Lord. Love His children despite their families...
That was simple enough advice ... but we needed it. We were busy being annoyed that they were not thankful. That is NOT what it is about. It is good to have mature, experienced friends to help us remember what it IS about.
2."Tropical Ulcer Man"
First, we realized that not calling him by his name is kind of rude and mean. (We all did it.) His name is Krispe. I (Britt) was so frustrated that he does not follow instructions for dealing with his ulcer. I wanted to give up on him. In my discouragement, I wrote to Lori about it. She said a bunch of good things.
Pieces of Lori's email: A lot of people think these kind of ulcers are done with voodoo powder and it's a curse someone put on them. That makes it hard to get him to talk. It could explain why he changes his story - or, at least why he isn't very clear in his explanation. This also makes it hard for them to seek and follow treatment because they feel that they will not recover until the person takes the curse off or until someone pays the voodoo guy more $ than the original curse-maker to remove the curse. Don't be discouraged. Keep on trying. You're his only hope. If you give up, he will too. I have also found that people with these chronic leg ulcer have extremely low self-esteem. He has probably had it forever - open to bugs - infected - smelly - people look down on him - he just doesn't care anymore. It's been so many years since anyone has looked at him like a real person. He's given up. Try to find something he is interested in and work on improving his self-esteem/image. It will help him to know you care. It will increase trust and compliance with your treatment. Just a thought.
So, the lessons for us have been to do the right thing. Don't do it for thanks, just do it because Jesus loves us that much ... so why should we not do the same for others? We are very sure that there are lots of times when God thinks we are not very thankful or compliant either!
Off to the beach now. God Bless you!
