The longer I’m here, the harder it is to write, not because things get less interesting or because life’s busy (although it is busy)…it’s just harder to pick out only one story to write about…or my stories are so harsh and real that I am even shocked when I write them down.
Life here has become my new normal. But nothing about it is “normal.”
It’s not NORMAL to have people knock on your gate to tell you they are starving and haven’t eaten for days.
It’s not NORMAL to visit a family that’s living in a tent in the middle of the road and unable to feed their young baby and two other children living with them.
It’s not NORMAL to have a 16-year-old show up at your house with a 3-month-old daughter and tell you her life story of growing up as a Restavek and being abused then and now.
It’s not NORMAL to have to always jump in the midst of children fighting, or adults hitting children and explain that this is NOT a way to discipline. (Especially when two children are fighting and an adult goes to break it up by hitting the kids that are hitting….oh, the irony).
It’s not NORMAL to have to fight with an orphanage director for one of your students (who is a true orphan with no parents) birth certificate so she can take her school tests.
It’s not NORMAL for a precious 11-year-old student to look you in their eyes and tell you that they have a bad life or a 9-year-old student to tell you about how their younger brother was killed by a Voodoo priest.
These things are not “NORMAL” in my old world. They are not NORMAL compared to how and where I grew up. But here’s the reality. All of these things I wrote above are “NORMAL” here in Gressier. In fact, many of them are the USUAL for MOST of the world.
As much as my idea of normal continues to change, I am reminded how completely BLESSED I am to be involved in God’s amazing plan for this community.
I am BLESSED to be apart of the way God is changing the NORMAL here in Gressier.
I BELIEVE that it will NOT be NORMAL for people to be starving in Gressier, for babies to die from malnutrition or neglect, for abuse and violence to be the answer, for Voodoo and confusion to rule this city.
I BELIEVE in the vision from God for freedom, education and victory for this community.
meganboudreaux.com 
Thank you for your posts. I heard you speak in Nashville and cannot stop thinking about what God is doing in and through your life there. It is such a reminder that “any old bush will do.”. If God can speak through a burning bush, He can and will do it through us. Praying for you and praying for Gressier. Much love to you.
Megan you are so precious. One day Haiti will embrace a new normal because God has sent you to share His kind of normal – that of a blessed life.
Your post reminded me of Dr. Albert, in a speech he gave before he became president of Buckner International. I got my notes out, taken at that moment when my heart was so touched for missions. Much like Jesus did in Luke 4:18-19, he read from Isaiah 61:1-2. He pointed out that Jesus preached “the good news of the kingdom of God,” as Christ called it in Luke 4:43. What Dr. Reyes said next is what made such an impact on me. He said (and I paraphrase) The kingdom of God does not look like poverty. It does not look like hunger or starvation or strife. It does not look like enslavement or bondage. We need to be giving people a vision and a desire for God’s kingdom here on the earth. The good news is good news.
You and the people of Haiti are in my prayers. He will give them “beauty for ashes.”
Keep up the good work, Megan. You are gaining ground for His Kingdom. I am sure of it.
Blessings,
Daisy
Sent from my iPhone
Megan–thank you for writing this. It’s crazy to think about how our perceptions of “normal” are defined by these manufactured bubbles we live in, and do not, in fact, apply to the majority of humanity. Gah, love this. Love what you’re doing over there.
Praying for you girl!
Normal,
Our Laodicean blindness in the American church.
I am challenged by your ministry and pray he sends more laborers daily and continues to protect you and your girls.
Blessings,
Kevin
Reblogged this on when there's time…and coffee.