Urbancrest currently has 17 interns exploring the call of God on their lives to vocational cross-cultural mission ministry. One step in completing their intern project is to spend a summer (6-10 weeks) on the mission field either nationally or internationally in a cross-cultural setting. This is the first year we have implemented this program, and we had eight interns on the international mission field in four different countries. In the next few blog posts, I will introduce you to the interns and post their final reports.
The first report comes from Sarah Bickers, the daughter of David and Ginny Bickers. She has been serving in Haiti for the past five weeks with the Florida Baptist Convention. This is her last in-country report as she will be returning home next week:
"I have officially celebrated my first Haitian birthday here! We went to the Baptist Mission for my birthday and it was so chilly up in the mountains, but refreshing. We toured Ft. Jacques which was a fort built to protect the ports. It's so far away and high in the mountains, I wondered how a cannon ball could shoot that far, but maybe they aim it straight up and it slowly falls into the ocean! They had "American" food at the mission and it was nice to enjoy some chicken nuggets and fries.
I've been ministering to a few families that live in our office parking lot in tents. First, I was able to give them Buckets of Hope and I remember one little boy who received one for his family. His face stuck with me and I noticed him starting to hang around the parking lot more and more when we arrived in the mornings. I tried to bring him little toys, crayons, etc. every now and then. I found out his name was Samuel. He starting bringing his brother named Dolfne (sounds like Dulfnee) as well. Then another boy named Anderson would wander over. They joined us each morning for our singing and devotions that we did in the parking lot under the trees. I asked them one morning if they knew that Jesus loved them so much that He wanted to die for them. Samuel said, "Yes, He must love me for some reason because I didn't die in the earthquake. He must want to keep me for some reason." It about broke my heart, but at least he understands the love of God and I'm pretty sure all three boys had either accepted Christ, or at least were consistently hearing it from their parents because they knew all of our worship songs. I asked them if there was one thing that they really wanted to receive and at first they said a soccer ball, but then decided they needed backpacks for school, as well as pencils. So, I made some calls to a staff member who was coming down in a week and asked for some deflated soccer balls. With the help another staff member, we were able to buy all three boys new backpacks, pencils, and new soccer balls. They were so excited!
Please pray for the staff that will fill in behind me to minister to these parking lot families. God has put them right at our feet for a reason! Also pray for Dolfne because he hasn't been around the past few days and when I asked where he was, Samuel said, "He doesn't come here anymore." I'm not sure what that means, but pray for him wherever he is! I've attached a picture of me with these boys so you can see their faces for yourself. Samuel is the one with the hat on and Anderson is the taller boy."
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