“Beside Many Waters…”

Have you ever read a scripture and really “overlooked” its meaning until you heard someone preach about it or talk about it? You may then say, “Wow, I’ve read that scripture but just didn’t realize what it meant.”

A friend of ours, Pastor Mark Ostrander (who works with us here in Haiti), was sharing this scripture with us, Isaiah 32:20 “Blessed are ye that sow beside ‘many waters…'”

I told him the story of the “six mothers” at our gate, some with their little babies in their arms. They had come from a long distance for “food.” They were all hungry; their flip-flops were torn, their legs and feet were dirty. In silence, they all sat on the curb outside of our gate, hungry eyes staring at me…waiting quietly for me to come.

It was Monday morning, and Monday mornings are always the busiest days. There were so many pregnant women and women with babies, waiting to see the doctor, and so many others, coming in for medical help, and two other mothers, carrying malnourished babies to the Malnutrition Center. Our children were going to school, and we were worried about the “Papaya Gang,” and had vehicles breaking down, and the list goes on and on.

But with all these problems, there they were, their babies were crying, and the mothers gently jiggling them to keep them quiet. They told me they had been “staying inside a small Haitian market in another town, under the straw roofs, sleeping on the ground, and had run out of food…and their children were hungry.”

With tears in my eyes, I brought them inside the gate, and they all sat on the curb while I tried to think of what to do. I thought, “Maybe they are just trying to get money, and if I give it to them, they would laugh at me.” I have had many tricks pulled on me since living in Haiti. Then I thought, “What if these are real needs? How can I say, ‘No?'” So, we gave them “backpacks” and filled them with food and milk. We brought them sandwiches and cold water, and I put an envelope with some money inside each sack and prayed with them. I prayed for them and sent them on their way. As I walked back, the devil said, “they’re laughing at you.” And I said, “‘We are fools for Christ’s sake so let them laugh.” (I Cor. 4:10)

I told Pastor Mark, and he said, “Sherry, you sowed beside ALL WATERS. You can give to the man on the street with the sign that says, ‘work for food,’ and when the blessing leaves your hand, you are still blessed. You are not responsible for it. You gave ‘as unto the Lord.'” So, don’t ever be afraid to give. Don’t try to “reason it out,” just follow your heart and let the blessing leave your hand…and “sow beside many waters.”

Sherry