I want to always be teachable. That is to say, I want to be a person who can always learn more from my surroundings and the people that I am with. I do not ever want to be a person who goes into each situation thinking that I have all the answers, that the plans I have formed are best, or that there is not a second opinion or perspective that is equally as valuable as my own. To those who know me closest, this will seem a little bit like the pot calling the kettle black, and I confess that this is a daily discipline, one that I have to cultivate within myself, something to strive for as I enter each new situation.
Recently, while on a trip to Haiti, I was again reminded of how important this perspective is for me to curate. We had traveled to Haiti to connect with several of our ministry partners, both in Petit Goave and the surrounding area, as well as in Jacmel. Having worked with and on the Wesleyan Campus in Petit Goave previously, I had an idea of some of things that Beehive Global Collective could help engage in, and raise funding for physical improvements to the compound. You can imaging my surprise then, when on the evening before our meeting with Paulvert TinTin, the manager of the compound, my friend and one of translators Pierre Richard looked at me and said ‘TinTin is excited to share with you about the bees tomorrow.’ Trying to hide my surprise, I told Pierre that I too was excited to discuss the bees, but went on to ask him exactly what he meant. It turns out that part of our reason to be in Haiti had been lost in translation. When I had written my friends on the compound to share with them about founding Beehive Global Collective, the assumption had been made that we were an organization specializing in beekeeping, and that we had come to help them set up their apiary.
Now, I have always been fascinated by beekeepers, and the whole concept cultivating bees for honey production. The way a colony of bees supports one another, placing the the health and fitness of the hive over the individual is partly why we chose the name Beehive Global Collective. Yet, for all my own fascination, I would not say that I am anything close to being an expert when it comes to raising bees. Still, we had come to Haiti to collect information from our ministry partners, to see where we could come alongside them, to support them and ultimately help them become more sustainable. My interest peaked, I waited for the meeting the following day.
This is the takeaway I realized in that conversation: We HAD come to Haiti with our own preconceived notions of what projects to explore, where to engage and what we would be fundraising to implement. And in that we had completely missed an opportunity to learn something new. Here was an opportunity to help build a low cost program that will ultimately allow the Wesleyan Campus to become more sustainable, as local workers are trained in beekeeping and the harvested honey sold at market to support the compound financially.
From one man He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us. Acts 17:26-27