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7 Days in Haiti: Day 6

11/21/2013

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 Today started out a bit rough. The hurricane hit hard last night (inside joke) and i haven't slept much in recent days and i think it may have caught up to me. 

Today we painted some steel storage shelves and then went up to the town of titanyen and looked at one of the schools and dropped off supplies. after that, we loaded up 56 bags (85# per bag) of cement mix, which was nearly unbearable. honestly i looked at it as a workout, since i hadn't done any formal exercise in recent days, i decided to jump in the trailer with barrett and start heaving the bags up on our shoulders and carrying them out to Jamin and steven as they stacked em up. Barrett has been battling a shoulder injury, so eventually it turned into my job of heaving the bags to jamin and steven. i was on a roll, but the heat, humidity, and dusty-ness took its toll on me. i sweated so much during those 15-20 minutes that i think i was dehydrated the rest of the day. thank goodness i had some of my rehydrate along for the trip otherwise i would have been in big trouble. I was able to grind out the rest of the day. After that i was working with nickie just outside the compound walls, where we were cutting pipes on the drain. the pipes were too close together and debris was getting caught up in the drain and backing up the water and causing issues with some flooding. i was a little on edge for some reason and the pipes were being stubborn as i was trying to break them. I even let a little curse word escape my lips out of frustration (oopsy). 

after that job that i felt inadequate at, nickie and i headed down to the compound's entrance where there was a big drainage that was getting clogged by a big stump. it's hard to imagine the pollution in haiti, so just imagine a pretty nasty drainage ditch. nickie is a tough redneck, so we jumped down there without gloves and started grabbing hold of this nasty log in this nasty drainage system full of garbage, feces, and lord knows what else. while we were working on moving this log, a haitian man even walked by and looked at me and gave me a look like we were crazy and made a sign with his hands that basically said, "dude, where are you gloves!" 

good news, we made it out ok. the only thing that is getting to me at this point is the itchiness. my hand has a pretty nasty rash on it, my ankles are swollen and itchy from some bug bites, and the skeeters are getting me at night. Man i must be a delicacy to skeeters cuz they just feast on me! 

After dinner and our team debriefing pastor jamin and i got to pray for more of God on my behalf. it was a great experience as I've never really had anyone pray on my behalf with such sincerity and intentionality before. I know this was a big turning point, in an already big turning point in my relationship with the lord.

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7 Days in Haiti: Day 4

11/14/2013

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Today we spent the day mixing cement with the Haitian men, visiting the burn clinic, which was heart-breaking, visiting the church and school, and then painting the school. It was so much fun playing with the kids and they were absolutely adorable. Earlier in the day I watched a young girl, maybe 18 months old, with severe burns all over her body. They soaked her wounds in a large bucket, and K rinsed her wounds. The little girl was in so much pain, but you could tell she was weary from the pain and exhausted from crying. If it wasn't for the burn clinic down here and the mission's efforts, these people wouldn't have anywhere to turn. In fact, many of them would have gone to the witch doctor and get some completely illogical treatment that would likely lead to the death of that person. 

The latter part of the day was fun painting with the ladies and Terrance. Terrance and I have a kinship and I really have a good time with him. After dinner we had the blessing of hearing Chris and Cheryl's story and vision. Their passion and vision is so inspiring and just makes God all the more magnificent to hear about what he is doing in other people's lives. At our team debriefing that evening we got to share the highlights of the day and I actually mustered up the strength to be vulnerable with everyone about two words that have been on my heart for some time. The two words were "shame undone." If I can summarize how it immediately felt when God grabbed hold of me, shook me a little, and ignited his spirit inside me, it was the feeling of my "shame undone." I think we all have these deep buried regrets and sins that we've done in the past that haunt us, and when I let God into my life, it was like it was instantly removed. It was such an overwhelming experience that all I could do was cry. There's a song at church that nearly always makes me cry when we sing it at worship and the lyrics say "where my heart becomes free and my shame is undone," (Here is the song). But what was all the more amazing was that it all related back to Chris's story and how he communicated to us that there is no randomness. God has a miraculous plan for each and everyone of us. Sometimes it doesn't seem like a plan, but I feel like he's pruning us and he puts us through some tough things in our lives so that we can share those lessons and experiences with others and how He has saved us and how he can save others in similar circumstances. 

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7 Days in Haiti: Day 2

10/31/2013

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I remember feeling so broken over my mother passing away when I was 14. My perspective on her passing for a long time was that she was losing everything. There were times where I wasn't sad for myself as much as I was sad for her because I thought again, that she was losing everything. What confused me though was how she handled her battle and impending death with such grace and an attitude that didn't parallel someone who was about to lose everything. it took me a long time to figure out why. The reason why is because in her heart, she was right with the lord and knew that she wasn't losing everything, but gaining everything. as it says in philippians 1:21, "For to me, to live is christ and to die is gain." A great commentary to elaborate on that verse is as follows: 

"Death is a great loss to a carnal, worldly man, for he loses all his earthly comforts and all his hopes; but to a true believer it is gain, for it is the end of all his weakness and misery. It delivers him from all the evils of life, and brings him to possess the chief good. the apostle's difficulty was not between living in this world and living in heaven; between these two there is no comparison; but between serving christ in this world and enjoying him in another. Not between two evil things, but between two good things; living to christ and being with him. see the power of faith and of divine grace; it can make us willing to die. in this world we are compassed with sin; but when with christ, we shall escape sin and temptation, sorrow and death, forever. but those who have the most reason to desire to depart, should be willing to remain in the world as long as god has any work for them to do. and the more unexpected mercies are before they come, the more of god will be seen in them."

I realize this doesn't seem to have much to do with the mission trip in haiti, but it has everything to do with it. this is an issue that i've struggled with my entire life because i didn't let god into my life until i was 27 years old. part of the reason why i wanted to go on this mission trip was to seek god and grow that relationship and understand him more. this revelation and understanding he gave me about my mother is something that was a huge breakthrough for me. perhaps it can be for you as well.

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7 Days in Haiti: Day 1

10/25/2013

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This trip took place from 10/5/13 - 10/12/13 and the journal entries are from that time frame:

You see poverty like this in the movies and never think twice, but when you are in it, it's a whole different deal. In Port Au Prince, haiti you can literally smell the pollution and poverty of the city. Garbage abounds, people are everywhere (going to the bathroom wherever they feel the urge to) and goats, hogs, and dogs roam everywhere. The rivers look like flowing caramel because it is so dirty from the run-off of garbage, feces, and the hogs slopping around in it. 


the compound we are housed on is 66 acres and it is led by Chris and Cheryl, nicki and Christie, and Barrett and Carrie. From only one day, I can already tell these people are not only amazing folks, but they are amazing servants as well. I want to experience god in such a way that has led them to be so obedient to God's calling in their lives. I believe that I'm doing what I've been called to do, but I desire to experience a love for Jesus like the love I feel for my wife and son. is it meant to feel different than that kind of love? like the love of a father as an obedient son?  

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Day 7 of My Metabolic Oil Change & A Powerful Sunday Message

3/24/2013

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outside of the 24 day challenge, i must say i received a gift from river valley church in apple valley through the sermon pastor rob Ketterling shared passionately with us......it was incredible. Please view it here, it could seriously impact your life.

9:00am - Probiotics with Mango strawberry spark 

9:30am - oatmeal with egg whites, natural peanut 
             butter, and unsweetened almond milk w/ h20

1:00pm - Whole wheat/flax chicken & spinach wrap w/ Mango salsa, with strawberries,
            broccoli, cucumbers, snap peas with hummus w/ h20
3:30pm - 3 catalyst with bottle of h20
4:45pm - 3 carb-ease
5:00pm - chicken breast, cup of spaghetti w/ meatballs, mixed green salad, and 1
             piece of rhubarb pie w/ water w/ 6 omegaplex
10:00pm - bottle of h20 with herbal cleanse pills

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    Author

    Brandon LaRue is passionate about strength, nutrition, and leadership in people's lives. He believes it all starts with one's health and fitness, as this spills over into all avenues of life.

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