The Haven Church team is from Zeeland, Michigan. On their first day, as they begin work in the community on Valentine’s Day, they are reminded that they are called to a deeper love, uncovering the heart of God for His people.
Valentine’s Day is a strange holiday. Societally, we’re supposed to make it all about one person. We buy decadent chocolates, book reservations, indulge in luxury, and generally try to step it up a notch.
For many of us, that’s what past years may have looked like but, in contrast, that wasn’t today. Not that we didn’t celebrate, or that these traditional celebrations are bad. We woke up to a beautiful sunrise over the ocean, had meals prepared for us, spent time in good company, and were even blessed with a delicious chocolate cake to end the evening.
The difference lies in the focus of today. It wasn’t about buying the perfect bouquet of flowers, wearing the right dress, or getting the nod of approval from a partner.
For most of us, sticking with the Valentine’s theme, today was a little more like a first date; a full package of newness, nerves, apprehension, and excitement.
We landed in Abaco, Bahamas, yesterday afternoon and have spent the past 24 hours getting settled into a new country and routine. We thank God for smooth travel, beautiful weather, and engaging relationships.
Despite these indulgements, we actually spent a lot of today covered in dirt.
This afternoon at Driftwood Farms, we planted seeds, harvested crops, packaged food, and erected a covered greenhouse structure.
This evening, along with the majority of the community, we attended Agape Christian School’s Senior Boys’ Championship Basketball game.
Today was hard work, with some segments being very physically exhausting. But, the group consensus is that today was highly rewarding (group consensus is also that basketball games in Abaco are much more exciting!!).
Regardless of the date, today was not about ourselves or any one person but, rather, was about serving the greater good of a community that none of us truly yet knows or understands. It was about serving one God through laboring externally for His people.
Col. 3:23-24 ESV says, “[w]hatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not from men knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”
We lived today working hard for the Lord, and as we close the night out, it feels different than finishing a hard day’s work elsewhere. While there is physical exhaustion, we feel emotional fulfillment and trust that God is cultivating the soil for deeper, long-term growth.
However, despite a feeling of successful completion, there are some reservations that we pray God will continue to work and teach through during our time here. Most of us come from a church background or were raised in the faith. Many of us have been to Haiti before. There is a sense of uncovering the numbness that we have emotionally erected for the work of God. A sense where mission work and witnessing the world’s devastation feels almost ‘normal’. So, we pray that God will break our hearts for what breaks His; that as we step into each new day, our numbness will be berated by the stories and the resilience of those we come into contact with.
It seems an odd request to have your heart broken on Valentine’s Day. But, it truly stems from a wanting to know and feel the heart of God for His people in hopes of experiencing and outpouring the greatest Impact.
As a disclaimer, this is not the Haven team telling you to not make a reservation next Valentine’s Day, or to not buy the expensive, heart-shaped box of chocolates. Please do not blame us next year for your forgotten reservation 🙂
But rather, we encourage you to emotionally wrestle along with us and ask you to pray for us. To ponder with us about the core of relational motivations. To question what creates a barrier between mundane routine and complete emotional immersion into the depth of the heart of the Father.
So, please ask yourself alongside us, when you’re called to ‘step it up a notch,’ what actions do you take?
