The late Coach John Wooden said, “You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.”
A few weeks ago a man that I am lucky enough to call friend spent a week in Haiti helping the victims of the January 12th earthquake. He spent weeks preparing for this trip, gathering much needed items. Bare necessities, like soap and toothbrushes, important things like tents for shelter, medical supplies to help heal the wounded, and fun things like soccer balls and toys for the children that have been left without family and now spend their days either in an orphanage or on the streets alone.
T.J. came to work with us during his last year of college as an intern; we liked him so much we kept him. This January he was promoted to Vice President of our company. T.J. is a young man with an old soul. He is a man of integrity, a man of honor, and a man with a sensitive heart. He is a man that says please and thank you, a husband that calls his wife just to see how her day is going, a man that talks to his grandmother at least once a week and his parents every day. All of those are great qualities, but the one quality I see in T.J. is the way he is diligent to live a life that reflects his love of God; T.J.is a true Man of God.
Below is an email from T.J. that touched my heart:
“All:
This trip truly changed my life and I feel I was the one that benefited the most from this trip!
When we first arrived to Haiti we were told the airport was going to be one of the most stressful times while we were there. After customs we headed out and people swarmed us trying to place their hand on our bag so we will tip them. While we waited for every one's bags we saw 6 close calls to just total breakout fights! We traveled to a gas station because the house was about an hour away from the airport. While I was there a child came up to me and said "Take we with you, I have no father." over and over. He looked so sad. I think the 8 year old was wanting anything we could give him but it almost broke me to tears right there.
We then began the journey up to the house and I was just in total shock of the devastation. The earthquake happened on January 12th and still looks like it happened yesterday. Rubble was everywhere and whereas there were no tents before, now there are almost 50% of the 2 million people living in tent cities across the island. Everywhere you see people taking baths in the streets, urinating everywhere and basically doing anything just to survive. Most people get to eat a good meal every 3 days and they all now have no home, and no job. The smell of the city reeks in most places. There are also people EVERYWHERE. The size of Port Au Prince is no bigger than Northwest Arkansas; actually I believe it is a little more than half the size. There are 2 million people there so literally everywhere I looked I would see groups of people sitting, or walking around. The density is crazy.
Our mission there was to build houses for people that had no house or lost theirs in the quake. We had a lot of logistical issues with building materials but were still able to build 2 houses. The houses included framing, putting a metal roof on, and with the little tools we had we would work from 7:00AM to 6:00PM or so every day. This was so awesome to be a part of because it was very hard work in 115 degree heat index but was very accomplishing. The Haitian people would surround us every day. The kids would play with us and the adults would jump in and help us. They speak French so the language barrier was there, but they just came to work and helped every day. One house we built was next to an orphanage and we got to go see the children at the orphanage almost every day. They were so happy to see us. They are just deprived of love and that was all they wanted from us. They would jump on us, hug us, and just want to play. They had no toys. Literally, they had one toy to every 4 kids and the doll had stuffing coming out of it. It was so sad to see what all we have and what all they do not have. They were so happy though!
The other side of the trip was medical missions. We had nurses and doctors with us and they would travel and set up a clinic every day. I got to go one day with the medical team. I got to take down the person's medical problems and got to see so many people with common problems that they just couldn't get treatment for until now. People with cysts, fever, and nausea, all the way to holes in baby’s hearts that unfortunately were not going to get the treatment they need. I was emotionally wrecked to see this. Having to tell someone they need more help than we could give was bad but the fact that the additional help wasn't there was even more wrecking. They were all so thankful to us regardless of the outcome of the medical visit. We gave meds to them, which would help them get by. We also got to pray with them. I got to pray with many Haitians who were believers and some that were not. I would ask them if they knew Jesus. Some did, some did not, and some were into Voodoo. I've never encountered someone that practiced Voodoo! If they didn't know Jesus, I would share the gospel with them. Some would accept Christ and some would say they didn't want to accept. This was so powerful! They were so grateful and we would show them the nearest church and encourage them to get with the local pastor. Some may or may not follow through but if one or two does, then our job was complete!
The last part of this I wanted to share was some of the stories I got from the help we had from the translators we hired and the houseboy we had on staff. The houseboy, who is probably around 30, lost his wife in the earthquake. He had a couple kids and after losing his job, wife, and house, couldn't feed his kids. He had to give his children up for adoption shortly after because he said that he would starve but wouldn't let his kids starve. Recently Thirst No More hired him on so he now has a place to live and a job. He won't be able to get his kids back but he does get to go visit them every so often. The translators were so awesome to help us. They get paid very little and work with us from dusk to dawn translating and helping with anything we were doing. After the days work, they would literally have to go find a place to live because most of them didn't even have a tent for themselves! Thanks to you guys we were able to provide tents for them along with clothes, backpacks, sunglasses, etc.
I wanted to inform you guys of what is going on in Haiti and to say thanks for your support in prayer and financially. The money (Your) money went to help us provide 50,000 pills, tents, blankets, toothbrushes, soccer balls, etc. to the people there. Some of the giving away we couldn't do, we had to let a 3rd party in our organization do it because we didn't want to show favoritism to one person or group, but I did get to personally see and give soccer balls, a tent, clothes and the medicine away to some of the people there. It was truly amazing to see their faces and expressions on when we gave them something so little to us but it seemed like we were saving their lives. THANK YOU!! You guys made that possible!
I want to leave you with this thought that kept going in my mind while I was there. Those people are so broken. They have nothing, literally a tent and one pair of clothes, fighting to eat and live every day. However, their hope is in Jesus more than ever. They have nothing to look forward to but to be with Christ one day in Heaven. It was very evident to see that. I started thinking about me, and Americans and what all we have. Our hope is everything BUT Jesus. We have so much to look forward to and things to do that we sometimes forget our core of why we are actually here. I encourage you to evaluate what you are truly in hope for and that it is Jesus!
Thank you all so much and I truly appreciate your support.
God Bless, T.J. Lefler”
I know T.J.’s heart, I know that he did not go to Haiti for self recognition he went to Haiti to do what he could to help. There is no way the people of Haiti will be able to repay T.J. or the other groups that went before him or that will go after him. Without knowing it T.J. spent a few perfect days in the heat, filth, and hope of Haiti. He truly is an amazing young Man of God and has inspired me to try to live at least one perfect day week. I'm blessed to call him my friend.
