A Poor Man's Dream

They have a dream.  They are Pastors Thimothee and Nahum…both are Haitian pastors, they are cousins, and they share a dream. 

Before you say, big deal…we all have dreams, let me explain why the dream of these two particular men turns this story from ordinary to extraordinary.

When you are born into a family in Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere, you are automatically faced with unthinkable suffering and oppression.  As cousins, they grew up together confined in their poverty stricken culture and know too well what hunger pains feel like.  And even worse, the pain of not being able to provide food for their own hungry children is nearly enough to make their hearts stop beating.  They were raised to survive and have never known the definition of comfort or physical pleasures.  This is a place where children tighten their belts around their waists to fight severe hunger pains.  Parents teach their kids from birth to beg to help support them.  These are only a few of the dreadful realities Pastors Thimothee and Nahum along with the majority of the Haitian people are born into.  Even today as grown men, Thimothee and Nahum, live lives of physical suffering with the primary focus of survival.  Thimothee’s home has a tarp roof that makes living in a tent seem appealing as the frequent tropical rains drench him and his family.  Nahum fights daily to provide food for his 6 biological children and 12 orphans who live with him.  It’s Heartbreaking.      

So I was thinking.  How can a dream of hope be birthed in men like Pastors Thimothee and Nahum when they are swimming in despair?   How can a beautiful dream come from a poor man who has never escaped his brokenness?     

After spending time in this place where grieving is normal I decided dreaming wasn't possible.  

Unless it was divine...a poor man's dream can only come from God.  Yes.  I am convinced it has to be from God.  

Despite their own suffering and helplessness God must have touched a place deep inside their souls that told them it’s safe for them to dream big.  Thimothee and Nahum must have believed Him.  

So they breathe in and breathe out, barley hanging on yet strangely filled with a gigantic dream that’s perfectly delightful.  Their dream is striking and mysterious and wonderful.  I know this because for reasons I will never know, God chose to pour out His grace to allow an unworthy soul like me to share in the miracle of their dream.  It’s a poor man’s dream.  It’s a dream that says their own children and the children of Haiti can have a better life. 

When their shattered world is shouting at them to give up, they dream their dream and this dream shows them a glimpse of a different story than the one they are physically living.  It fills them with just enough hope to make it through another dark night. 

April, June, September, October, January, March...these are the different months that I have spent time in Haiti since 2010.  In less than 3 weeks July will be added to this list.  

But, I remember that special conversation between myself and Pastor Nahum back on a warm afternoon in March.  School was over for the day and some of the orphans were playing while others were helping cook, fetching water, and cleaning.  I was sitting on the cement wall that wraps around the porch of Pastor Nahum’s modest home which somehow feels very comfortable...much like my own home.  He was sitting in a nearby chair.  Even if the children didn’t have a reason to pass the porch where I was sitting several of them were purposefully creating a detour to flash their irresistible smiles at me.  They like that I continue to return to them and they like how I know their names.  Oh how my heart explodes with Jesus love for each and every one of them.   

Many of you have prayed, given, and watched the Back to Life (BTL) ministry help provide and sustain Pastor Nahum and his orphans.  Back to Life ministry was founded by Pastor Thimothee and now together he and Pastor Nahum have laid down their lives to reach a dying world of children with the love of Jesus through this kingdom ministry in Haiti.   

I had personally been heavily investing in this vital ministry for over a year but it had never once crossed my mind that the Back to Life ministry was birthed from a poor man’s dream and thrives even today as these two men continue to dream big.    

There was pure sweetness in the words Pastor Nahum spoke to me on that March afternoon.  “Daughter, do you know what my dream for BTL is?”   There was a sparkle of expectation in Nahum’s eyes that told me this was no ordinary dream.  It was so supernatural that at even at the mention of it, Pastor Nahum was able to escape the darkness.  Looking into his eyes, he didn’t seem poor anymore.  His dream made him rich. 

Surrounded with the reality of his poverty, I was bursting with an intense curiosity to know what captivates a poor man’s heart so deeply that he is swept off into dream land.  To dream in these conditions is faith.  I wanted to know how to believe like this.  

Amazed and humbled I said, “Please tell me.” 

The sparkle in Pastor Nahum's eyes never faded as he told me, "I have a dream for BTL to spread from Mirebalais and Port au Prince across all of Haiti and then all over the world."  

It was lovely and sounded all too familiar.  Jesus' words flashed through my mind, "Go into all the world and preach the good news.  You will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth."  

The dream of this poor man was a reflection of the Gospel and I now shared it with him.  

Then Pastor Nahum said to me, “Daughter, I can see God's hand pouring out His blessing on BTL.  My dream is coming true.” 

Any doubts I had before this conversation vanished and I told him I would believe in his dream with him.

 

God’s blessing rests on the BTL ministry because it’s purely motivated by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  God is the author of this dream Pastors Thimothee and Nahum share and it brings them an inner soul satisfying kind of joy to watch their dream becoming a reality…to see the Gospel do what it says it can do as it spreads among the poor, sick, lost, and dying in their villages.  

Back to Life is the Gospel in action among the forgotten in Haiti.  It’s the tender care of Jesus touching a child’s whole-being:  spiritually, physically, emotionally, and academically.  It’s the reason for the sparkle in Pastor Nahum’s eyes. 

The world sees Haiti as a dark place not suitable for dreams to come true.  I think that’s why when it happens, it’s all the more glorifying to God.  When a poor man dreams in the midst of so much brokenness, I imagine Jesus smiling and telling him, “Your faith has saved you.  Go in peace.”

Going to the poor made me rich.  Having a poor man’s dream shared with me gave me God’s invitation to participate in His kingdom here on earth.  Believing in the poor man’s dream put the same sparkle in my eyes that I saw in Pastor Nahum’s eyes. 

Brothers and sisters, there is a righteous King and His kingdom is near.  It’s beautiful, redemptive, eternal, and powerful…it’s exactly as the Gospel says.