Thursday

I spent the morning with a group of pastors, and we sang, prayed, and then spent some time discussing Psalm 23. One of the younger pastors posed a question about how God, who is a shepherd, could allow some in the world to suffer while others do not. You can imagine what this sparked in the room. I was able to briefly walk through Scripture and explain how God is sovereign, showing that the Bible points to Jesus as the perfect example of suffering, giving us a model for how to think about God in the midst of trying situations. If Christ suffered and still trusted God, how much more should we?

How providential that we had this discussion. Later in the day, I got a call from Poyis, and he told me that something was wrong with Chuck, one of our team members. Poyis said that he couldn’t speak, and that I needed to get back to the compound right away. I gathered my stuff quickly and headed back to the compound, driving much faster than normal. We knew that time was essential, and that this was a scary place to be if he was truly having a stroke.

We decided to send Chuck on an emergency flight back to the US, got all the way to the airport, and when I arrived at the counter, the woman told us the plane had left. I pressed her on why it took off early, but I knew there was nothing I could do. The Lord had other plans.

Chuck seemed indifferent to the situation; I think he wanted to simply rest. We started to rethink our plans—and in God’s providence, while driving to a nearby hospital, Greg called and reminded me that Connect 2 Ministries has a membership that provides MedEvac insurance. On my phone, I have an app with a red button that I can push in an emergency. In theory, it tells the service to find me and send help.

I heard from them almost instantly, and learned that the hospital we had just arrived at was the best hospital in Haiti. They had a CT scanner, and we quickly met the radiologist who would perform the scan (and be able to read the results). As it turns out, this man travels to Haiti from Spain for one week out of the year, and this happened to be his week. He was a top radiologist and would easily be able to help us. What an answer to prayer. Chuck was getting the kind of medical treatment that he would have received in Miami, but it was in Haiti. The Lord was kind to take care of Chuck, and this whole scenario actually built us some useful connections for the future.

The scan process took about an hour, and the end result was negative for a stroke. What a relief. On the drive back to the compound, Chuck agreed that it was probably best for him to fly out on Friday, if we could make the arrangements.

Friday Morning

I had coffee with Chuck and another team member. Chuck was a little better, but still couldn’t articulate words. He was thankful for the care that he had received at the Haitian hospital, but agreed that he needed to head home. After breakfast, part of the team went to finish work on the church, and the rest of us focused on getting some other things done. We said our goodbyes to Chuck before we left, knowing that we had seen the Lord’s goodness and provision in a powerful way, once again, this week.

**We published this story with Chuck’s permission, because we thought you might be encouraged to see God’s care and provision in this circumstance. Chuck is doing well now, and he continues to go on trips with Connect 2 Ministries.

Wiley Kennedy serves as Director of International Ministries with Connect 2 Ministries. To learn more about Wiley, visit Who We Are, and to learn more about how you can pray for the ministry, visit Pray.