One thing AIM does that I’m thankful for is that they partner with the local church and seek to empower her vision and mission to the community it’s in. I was last in Haiti in August and we worked with a pastor on this Haitian hillside. He taught us a song based on Psalm 103, which says in the first verse, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.”
The song goes something like this, “My soul says yes Lord, my soul says yes, my soul says yes…yessss, yesss.” This rhythm would continue as we declared to the Lord that our hearts, and our eyes, and our hands, and our feet all say yes to Him. This song the pastor taught was a gift he left with the team. It became our theme song.
So, one special moment our team experienced was learning this song in Creole, the native tongue here. We worked with another pastor on another Haitian hillside; the pastor I had served with last time was unaware there was another team in Haiti. On the last day, we decided to make a visit to this pastor I had spent time with on the previous trip and share with him a gift that he had shared with the former team. We arrived on his doorstep and began singing this song in Creole and the pastor was blown away! We had surprised him, and not only surprised him, but we worshipped with him in his own language! It was such a surreal moment: spending time with and praying for his family, him sharing his heart on this song he loves so much, and having him pray for us.
What was also amazing is that there was a skit we had learned on this previous trip and performed for the church. The church had learned it, put some Haitian touches to it, and has been sharing this skit with others in their area. The pastor told me that the skit was a gift to him.
Gifts come all sorts of ways–through the prayers of saints, through friendships uniting, through songs and and even skits. Jesus gives strength to His Church through these gifts of grace. Likewise, as saints, we are called to minister to one another through the varied gifts of grace He has given to us (1 Peter 4:10). We are called to encourage and spur one another through these gifts. Thank God for His grace.
