Out House at Night in Haiti

Dear Readers,
What a priviledge you have given to me by taking the time to read my stories and my theological reflections on them. Thank you!
I had my 30th birtday in Haiti on Dec. 29, 1984 and was grateful for the cake and the birthday song sung in Creole. I don't remember what my wish was when I blew out the candles, but I was at a pivotal point in my life. Like Jesus I was taking the leap from a career as a craft worker to a life in the ministry at age 30. He went into the wilderness for a period of time at the onset of his ministry and Haiti felt very much like wilderness to me at that time.
We were met at the airport and rode in the back of a large pickup truck to our compound in a village a couple of hours away from Port-au-Prince. The air smelled like burning rubber from people who were melting new treads onto bald tires. Everything was loud: dogs barking, roosters crowing, people making music, rickety vehicles revving their engines to climb up steep hills. The colors were bright everywhere! Houses were painted four different colors, taxis (called tap taps) were painted with tropical flowers all over the entire vehicles and women wore brightly colored clothing. It was my first time out of the country, other than Canada. and my eyes must have been as big as saucers.
When we got to our "dormitory" we had cots with lice infested pillows and there was a small turantula spider on the wall, about the size of a quarter. I am not afraid of any bugs, even spiders, but did I mention that I am terrified of rats? That is what we saw in the dining room when we ate supper, not one rat, but a small heard of large ones running across the floor. I started to think, "what did I get myself into?" The ultimate challenge came when I had to use the outhouse in the dark with no flashlight. Why didn't anyone think to bring a flashlight? I didn't even think of it and there wouldn't have been room in my half of the suitcase anyway with all of my snorkeling gear.
I asked the other ladies with me to hold the door open while I did my business, so I could get the light from the moon. That totally dark outhouse terrified me after I saw those rats. I was sure that one was going to bite my butt, so I pushed as hard as I could to get it over ASAP!
I survived!!! I went to bed and prayed a prayer that went something like this: "God, I don't have enough faith for this! Please help me to do this! I'm scared!"
About an hour later, we heard drums and someone asked, "Are those Voodoo drums?" Someone else said, "Yes." I felt afraid and started praying again.
When we left the compound in the morning the sun was up and the foliage was beautiful!!! We stepped out onto the road and saw that someone had drawn Voodoo symbols in the sand at our gatepost. This too frightened me, but nothing came of it.
After a day or two, I had learned how to cope with my fears and felt at ease with our surroundings. I didn't use the outhouse in the dark again and I learned to take a shower with cold water (that's all there was) in the middle of the day when it was hot, etc..
I could not get used to seeing the malnurishished children though. It broke my heart. We were strictly warned and forbidden to give to beggers, because they said that we would be swarmed. I regretted not doing it though and those big brown eyes still haunt me.
In the Bible, Peter steps out of the boat onto the water to walk toward Christ who was walking on the water toward him. I felt like Peter, out of the boat, walking on the water, aware of the wind and the waves and having to keep my focus on Christ in order to proceed. Perhaps those experiences we have that are way outside of our comfort zones are how we grow spiritually. We certainly don't want too many of them, but when we find ourselves in the midst of one, it is a great opportunity to change for the better.