Super-wife and I are getting ready to go on a short-term mission trip to Haiti

We were so close to saying "no" when a good friend asked us to join him and others on a short-term mission trip to Haiti early this fall.  We weighed each aspect of the trip and where we thought we could fit in and we talked about the harsh realities of that country post-earthquake.

Then after many discussions about it on our daily walks, we decided not to go.  When we walked through the door after one, we grabbed a book on the couch by John Piper entitled "Don't Waste Your Life" where on the back cover, he tells a story about a couple of younger retirees.

They lived in Florida, had a 30-foot trawler, played softball and collected shells.  Piper wrote: 

"Picture them before Christ at the great day of judgment where they say 'Look, Lord.  See my shells.'  That is a tragedy."

Pretty much at that moment and in unison, we decided that we had to break loose of our comfort zone and our unanswered questions and go.  We are going.

We will be working through the Haiti Lutheran Mission Society, USA and Martin Luther Chapel in East Lansing (MI).  While in the country, we will be helping to restore an orphanage in an area called Lilavois that was damaged during the Jan. 12 earthquake.

I will be blogging about our preparations and cross-posting on the blog, The Haitian Chronicles.

We are trying to both prepare our hearts and our bodies for the trip. 

We want to be used by God to help where and how he wants us to help.  I invite comments, especially from those who have already gone.

The photo in this post is of a reminder to take the oral vaccine for thyphoid.