What happens when injury becomes a way for God to teach you? Check out Doug’s story to find out.. Doug recently fractured his ankle on a trip to Haiti with the ____ group. Get ready to be inspired!
When I first realized that something was seriously wrong (I’ve never rolled an ankle that bad before), the first thing that hit my mind was that I was in the poorest country in the western hemisphere. This resulted in a little bit of nervousness and probably to the extent of a little fear. The tunnel vision set in and I vaguely remember anyone helping to carry me over to the steps (Thanks to however that was. I think Paul was one). As I sat down on the steps, the second emotion set in. Frustration! Maybe a little bit of anger. “I raised $2,250 to come on this trip and now I have a broken ankle” was my thought. Grrr! “How will I carry out what I’m supposed to do here??!!!!”
Well off to the van I went and those emotions became intense. It hurt, but I remember thinking the chunk of ice wrapped in the bandanna was a huge blessing (thanks again, Paul). As we began driving I just didn’t know what to do. There wasn’t anything I could do. But the encouraging words from Jenn A, Laura, and Jedlaine helped significantly. After a few minutes of driving Jenn turned and told me that her and Laura had prayed for me. She could see the look of frustration on my face and the slight sense of pain and told me that they will take care of me and that this doesn’t have to steal my joy on this trip. I then began to pray inside, “Lord, I don’t why this happened but please have your way with it.”
Jedlaine’s actions also significantly resonated with me during all of this. There wasn’t a moment that went by, in the van and the hospital, when Jedlaine wasn’t lightly rubbing my leg or my shoulder and saying, “God is with us. Everything will be okay. God is with us.” I could see in his eyes and hear in his voice that he was going to do everything he possibly could to make sure that I was taken care of.
The trip to the hospital was a bit long, but about halfway through it I was overwhelmed with a sense of peace. No more nervousness, no more fear, no more frustration or anger. The pain was even beginning to subside a little bit. Not only was this the most sense of peace that I’ve had on the way to a hospital visit, but it was one of the greatest sense of peace I’ve ever experienced. It was then that I realized that God had heard all of your prayers for me. I continued to pray that my faith was in Him and I could hear him saying to me, “I got ya buddy.” Trust me, this sense of peace was not from me. I hate hospitals. I get anxiety just at the thought of them. This peace was from the Lord.
The next day while we were at the clinic with JudeLove (I don’t know if that’s the correct spelling), Jedlaine mentioned that he was afraid of doctors. He had a bad experience when he was about 8 years old and has been afraid of them ever since. He said to Krista and I, “Yesterday when we were going to the hospital, I was very afraid. But I did not want you to know that I was afraid. I know you are in a different country with different customs and that can be very scary, so I did not want you to know that I was afraid.” I was shocked to hear this. Honestly, he was as confident as could be. I told him he did not seem afraid at all. “I was” was his response. He was so comforting and encouraging the whole way through. We often illustrate “courage” with someone running into a burning building to rescue another or something along those lines. But when someone is afraid, yet they move forward with such bravery that they ease someone else’s fear…that’s courage!
I think back about the leadership council telling me that my accident didn’t weaken my spirit. That I was happier after coming back from the hospital and I “became younger” as one of them put it. This was only because of the sense of peace from the Lord and from all of the love I received. Love from you all and from the Haitians. There wasn’t a meal that passed when I didn’t have about 10 people asking if they could fix me a plate. There was a consistent offering of help. You all truly are servants of Christ. The man on the leadership council said this was one of my biggest life experiences. Ain’t that the truth!
As a final note, at one point after the accident, someone on our team told me that if I wanted to, I had a right to complain. I felt, so strongly, that the Lord was with me. I watched him continue to bless my place on this team despite what had happened. He blessed me with peace, love, and joy the whole time. How could I complain about that? Bondye Bon!
One day at church I felt a calling or a nudge that God wanted me to serve in a different way. I looked through my church’s opportunities and as soon as I saw Kenya I felt a wash of joy flood over me. I applied that day and was overjoyed to hear shortly back that I had been accepted to go. Our church gave us the book “If You Really Want To Help” and from there I fell in love with what 410 was doing for the people of Kenya, especially after reading the story of Chris in Kahuria.
Our partnership with Kiu community started way back in 2009 making it one of the first communities to partner with the 410 Bridge since its inception in Kenya in 2006.
At the 410 Bridge, we work through the community leaders who ensure continuity of the community’s development even after graduation. During our partnership journey, we walk alongside indigenous community leaders and church leaders as they mobilize and unify the community to participate in their own development – shifting their perspectives and owning the solutions.
If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Kenya, allow me to do my best to try to put into words what an incredible life-changing experience that you really need to do at least once in your life.
I was recently blessed to travel to Mutirithia, Kenya with an amazing group of 20 other Christian men to serve the families in that community over the course of a week.
We prepared for weeks to make sure everyone understood the primary objective of the trip, which was to build upon relationships already formed in the community and to spread the Word to as many people as we could.
Allow me to unfold a day-by-day glimpse of what we experienced:
