​Let me be filled

This blog was written by Cheyenne Teletcia Davila. She is a student at Baptist University of the Americas and was part of the BUA team that went on First Fruit Haiti's second mission trip.

“Let me be filled with kindness and compassion for the one, the one in whom you love and gave your son. For humanity, increase my love.”

I had the lyrics to this worship song stuck in my head our whole trip to Haiti. When we got there, I saw so many people on the streets just living their lives, trying to make money for their families, people just walking, kids playing, and it suddenly became real to me. I was in Haiti. I was in a place that I had heard about many times and usually I heard about it because disaster had struck there. I remember being in eighth grade and hearing about an earthquake that had hit Haiti and seeing people trying to raise money to help the country in this time of pain, grief, and loss. Never in my wildest thoughts did I ever think that seven years later I would be in the place that I had just heard about or sort of felt sorry for. And then I get off the plane, we’re driving around the streets and I see these people and they’re real and they’re beautiful and now suddenly they’re not just some people in some faraway place that I feel sorry for. Now there is a burden in my heart for them, now there is prayer in my heart to God, “God break my heart for what breaks yours.” So while we’re on this trip my heart broke because we we’re welcomed with open arms by the First Fruit guest house, by the churches we got to help, and everywhere that we went.

“Help me to love with open arms like you do, a love that erases all the lines and sees the truth. Oh that when they look in my eyes they would see you, even in just a smile they would feel the father’s love.”

Our second night we were asked what we wanted to pour out while on the trip and I said that I wanted to be a light; I wanted the people to see and feel Jesus in who I was. But as the trip went on I realized that the people of Haiti poured out love on us and showed us agape love, showed us sacrificial love. Before going on this trip, people asked me, “Why would you want to go there?” Haiti is not a wealthy country, but it is rich in love. Whether it’s the way that everything was done to make sure that we were taken care of, or how the kids waved and smiled and grabbed your hand, or how two boys from the youth came to help us paint one of the churches we did VBS at. There was one group at the youth day that took the time to teach a few members of the team some words in creole and it was moments like that that I saw the Father’s love.

​“Let all my life tell of whom you are, the wonder of your never ending love.”

​I am not rich, but I am definitely fortunate to live where I live and have the things I have. I’m not going to lie, I take things for granted. Things like the AC, electricity, hot water, things we just assume we’re supposed to have, like it’s a right to have those things, but there are people around the world that go without them and yet they are so grateful for everything. Haiti was a beautiful experience where I realized how blessed I am, and that now is the time to start blessing others because it’s not right for me to just keep it to myself. I want my life to show Jesus and I want to display the kind of love that He does for me every day. Haiti gave me the desire to give even when I don’t have, because that is what the people there did for us. I thank God for the opportunity to serve and be served. I learned so much just from the love that was poured out by the people of Haiti and by the amazing people that went with me and I hope that one day I am to go back and serve.

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