Following Jesus to Haiti and back

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. - Romans 8:28 (NASB)

This is the verse I keep thinking about since we got back from Haiti with Jakob & Isaak. (Short recap - Last month I went with my friend Sharla, to the Dominican Republic and Haiti, to help get her 4-year-old Haitian twins out of there and home to America...and we made it.) The last four years have been a walk of faith for her with these boys, filled with one rescue after another, each one arranged by a loving God who is, every day, working all things together for good.

The fact that Isaak is even alive today is proof that the Lord's plans will always win out over the plans of men. He was abandoned as a newborn in the hospital, and since nobody was paying for him the hospital refused to care for him, so he was starved and left in the same diaper for two weeks. When a group of doctors on a medical mission trip found him (still in the hospital), he weighed just over two pounds, was too weak to cry, and the infection from the diaper had eaten through his skin and you could see his intestines. Now, he's a very active, very smart little boy who moves like the Tasmanian Devil (the cartoon one) but comes to a screeching halt whenever there's a baby to hold. Miracle #1.

Five months after Isaak was rescued, his brother Jakob ended up in the hands of the same people who rescued Isaak because his mother didn't want him anymore. What are the odds that the boys would be able to grow up together with that kind of beginning? Miracle #2.

Then there's the long, drawn out process of adopting Haitian kids, which is bad enough when they're in an orphanage and ready to be adopted, but when they've been abandoned and have no paperwork to make it all easier, it becomes one more mountain to climb...or move. Enter El Shaddai (which means God Almighty), and one massive earthquake in Haiti. If you've been following the earthquake in the news, then you know how devastating it has been to hundreds of thousands of people, but what you don't necessarily know is how many lives have been changed for the better because of this big nasty event. We have this really limited view of the world around us and generally only see the obvious or whatever jumps out at us screaming...like the suffering caused by earthquakes and tsunamis and big stuff like that. But there's always so much more happening under the surface that we can't see, and that's where faith comes into play. God asks us to believe that He is always good and always in control and that He will continue to work miracles and care for His people all the way to the end of this earth and into eternity. So now the boys are in America (or Merka, as Jakob calls it) with Mom, on humanitarian parole, instead of stuck on an island waiting for two governments to get it together so they can be free. Miracle #3.

And here we are...two grown women, two hairy cats, and two very busy 4-year-olds, in America, all living at my place while they get settled and look for a home. It's a beautiful thing. What I love most about this story is that I have gotten to watch the God of everything wonderful pull off the impossible to rescue these boys and put them where He wants them. Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying that God caused the earthquake just to get these boys to America; what I am saying is that in the very worst of circumstances and nightmares, God is always busy, doing His thing, and working the situation out for good. If your world seems to be falling to pieces, ask Him to help you see His hand in everything, and to show you that He's there, guiding, and loving, and arranging all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes...and it might be worth asking yourself if you fit that description. He doesn't make this promise to those who are just slightly interested in Him and mostly want to do their own thing.