Ministry of Presence

February 2009

Haiti fills my thoughts today. I can’t get the faces of those beautiful Haitian children out of my mind…..I pray that I never will. This divine adventure was a ministry of presence, but, for whom? When asked to be a part of a 4 person mission team to Haiti, I said yes without hesitation because I knew the Lord wanted me to go.

Mary White, CHAP director, and I attend Church of the Resurrection in Surfside Beach together. Dr. Paul Browning, from Socastee High School, is a fantastic principal and is the safest man in the world, according to my kids. Rev. Bob Caswell, CHAP chaplain, well he is just wonderful and has been a spiritual mentor to my entire family. Mine was the role of President-elect of the Episcopal Church Women of the Diocese of SC. Together, we were going to Haiti. For Paul and me, this was a whole new experience.

Mission work has been on my family’s heart for years. In fact, my oldest son, Lewis, had traveled to the Dominican Republic with a college ministry from St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on a mission trip, three years earlier. Now, it was my turn to follow my child’s lead. How could I ever say anything but yes! This was a team for whom I had the utmost respect. Please Lord, let me just try to convey the overwhelming emotion that holds my heart.

What have I ever done in my life to deserve such crazy love and respect? My friends and church family had sponsored me for expenses almost exactly to the penny….God thing. I was getting encouragement from every turn….God thing. My small group, Bible studies, book club, gym, bunko group, church families of people that I didn’t even know, my day care center families (I own Wee Care Day School in Myrtle Beach), were all in support on my trip to Haiti. I’m just a regular Horry County girl that doesn’t really travel much in, of all places, Haiti. Haiti can be a very scary place. Especially for a flaming chicken like me!

Haiti defies sanity. Where are the roads? I hope to never take a short cut again. No electricity, water with parasites, no water, bring you own toilet paper, never go to a Haitian hospital, large guns, barbed wire, stone walls with upturned jagged broken bottles cemented on top….in this paradise is extreme poverty and filth. What could I ever offer to so many? It’s called a Ministry of Presence. But, I found that it was given to me. I was there to give, but the gift was given to me and my team. I think that every missionary must have known the answer already. But, for this trip, it was my answer to find. How clearly you can see the hand of God, when all is stripped away. People living in faith, love and hope for they are children of the Beloved. Father Val and his lovely wife Carmel are truly anointed, as they lead 6 churches and nutrition centers. Lives and souls are being saved through their tireless efforts.

How will I ever be the same following this trip; I pray never. My job is to speak and act on my revelations seeded in Haiti. A fresh view of God’s creation and my role as His child with my brothers and sisters all over the world, how blessed am I to have met so many of them. They were waiting for me, and I them. I found that a comfort zone can be a chain holding you back from living in the Spirit. I look forward to the day when Steve and I can take our children with us as a whole family for mission work, even for a week or two, or better yet, as God leads. I let God lead me both directly and indirectly through friends and strangers to what was a divine adventure of a lifetime….until next time. God Bless You.

Scripture Notes: Matthew 28:19, James 1:27, John 1:16

Sue Brunson