Back From Hiatus

As the bags are being packed once again I looked at the walls of this journal and realized how remarkably quiet they have been,
Well much has happened in the last year, I've had little if any motivation to write my thoughts into something coherent (not they they are always coherent when I put things up here.)
Before I start something new I feel it somewhat important to recap where I've been this last little while, so in a whirlwind, here it goes, (for those that are looking for the most recent adventure this post is not for you, please check back soon.)

At the conclusion of my last visit to Uganda, I was amazingly blessed to have the opportunity to intern at my church (Peace Portal Alliance) in the outreach department under a man who is both a great friend, and mentor in my life.
As many of you know, I jumped at the chance, which included the commitment to full time studies in the field of International Development.
With that I began a whole new chapter of learning, or more boldly put 'an exercise in doing what goes against the grain'.
While I took to work within the church with ease, I struggled with the academic aspect of sitting in a classroom and listening to lectures.
While I managed to struggle through my first semester, (I breezed through highschool without doing much homework, that strategy does not work quite as well in university), my stubborn ox like temperament was slowly worked down by the collective wisdom around me and by the second semester my newly refined patience allowed me to endure.

Then the sun came up on January 13, and the world saw Haiti in ruins.
The 7.0 earthquake the night before left millions homeless and hundreds of thousands dead.
"I'll go," were the few words said to God that I thought little about, untill a week later when a friend announced her plans to go and asked me to consider and pray about it coming along.
God opened the doors;
Professors freed my schedule, gave extensions and eliminated midterms,
Friends, family and complete strangers prompted by God, donated the needed funds,
And a team was enroute shortly after.

With a strong, well grounded and overall great group of friends, I headed to Haiti just over two weeks after the quake.
As part of a team of doctors and nurses, we provided basic medical care to hundreds of people a day over the course of the next two weeks,
But more importantly, we were able to pray for each and every patient after they had seen a doctor,
A good friend and I had the blessing and honour of being that prayer team,

God taught me a lot through the lives of those people we prayed for,

Those who were believers rejoiced in the Lord for the things that they had,
Trusted in Him for the future, and drew strength from Him for the days and weeks to come.

Those who were not believers came and sat and hoped,
Sharing stories of those they lost and those they hoped to find again,

While my time in both Uganda and Egypt had prepared me for the immersion into poverty, God still used the time to humble me and teach me more about His overwhelming character.

As we flew home and discussed all we had encountered in Haiti, we agreed that despite the chaos, joy is abounding and there is much promise for the Haiti of tomorrow.

A solid few months of catching up in studies followed my return, another round of exams and finally a couple months back at construction and here I am again with my bags packed.

This time I am excited to have my father coming along to experience my homes away from home,
Pray for us and we encounter all that God has instore for us along the way,
And I promise to keep the blogs slightly more frequent than in the past,

Grace, Peace and Blessings,

Brent