Have you ever heard the term Holy Discontent? I hadn’t heard this term until my pastor preached about finding a cause to be passionate about. I realized quickly that I had experienced Holy Discontent about 3 years ago, but I didn’t realize it had a name.
It happened one evening when I was looking at blogs and saw a sweet little baby on the RHFH blog that was skin and bones and barely alive. In college I had traveled to Russia and Madagascar, and spent time in very poor areas of the world, but I had never seen a child literally starving to death. When I realized this was happening in Haiti and that it was only a short flight away from the US….honestly, I was angry. It made me mad to think that so close to one of the wealthiest countries in the world, there were children that were dying because they didn’t have enough food to eat. I spent some time being mad and then started to think that something needed to be done about this. I read about RHFH and all that they were doing and also noticed that at the time they needed more funds to help care for these children. I wanted to do something, but didn’t really know what….so for the time being I just let the thoughts of that starving baby make my mind crazy with sadness and confusion.
I’ve always had art projects going on in our house. I love trying new things and I love to create. God placed an idea on my heart of creating things to sell to help RHFH feed kids in the Rescue Center. I talked to some of my artist friends and they very willingly created amazing portraits and jewelry to raise money for these kids. We knew there had to be other people out there that couldn’t tolerate the fact that these kids were starving so we started a blog and website and God brought new artists to us who wanted to donate.
During our first visit to RHFH in November 2009, a family with 4 young children and a baby on the way came to the clinic. Dad couldn’t find work and they were all very malnourished. The kids were admitted into the Rescue Center and mom and dad were able to sleep on the clinic floor and have a meal that night. I asked Zach what the family was going to do. Where could we help this dad find a job? Zach replied “there are no jobs!” I was floored. What would I do in this situation if there was no way for me to earn money and my kids were hungry. This family reminded me a lot of my family (we have 5 young kids) and the thoughts of not being able to find work and watching my kids slowly get sicker brought about a whole new level of Holy Discontent.
As my pastor said in his sermon, Holy Discontent should “push you towards action, not just emotion.” It’s easy to get angry and upset when you see things that aren’t as God would like them to be in this world, but it is much harder and sometimes much scarier to act on these feelings. God placed the thought into my head of what if we tried to create more jobs in this area so that there would be less starving kids. What if we could use art to do this too? This was the beginning of the Art Co-op in Cazale. We started teaching classes and working with artisans in the Cazale area to create more jobs and outlets for sales outside of Haiti and for visitors coming to RHFH.
I’m so thankful that God broke my heart that day when I saw that tiny baby online. I’m so thankful that my husband, family, and so many friends and strangers have become a part of helping kids and families in Cazale through art. It’s been amazing to see God’s hand in all of this and watch His plan take place.
Is God pushing you towards action? What are you not willing to tolerate? Seek after and pursue a way to help with passion! Ask God how you can help children and families in Haiti. If you are an artist or if you know someone you want to encourage to get involved we would LOVE to here from you! You can learn more at www.artistsforhope.org or email us at artistsforhope@gmail.com
Comments(7)
Angela says
October 5, 2011 at 4:28 pmRoberta. I love you and your heart. You are such a light! Miss you!
Jamie Bruce says
October 6, 2011 at 9:29 amRoberta…I am touched by your heart for Haiti…I can relate so much to the Holy Discontent…I have traveled to Haiti twice in the past 12 months, once as a part of a mission team from Christian World Outreach…we built a house for a family who lost theirs in the earthquake,assisted with a feeding program in Delmas at the CWO training center, and did repairs on a Christian school nearby. We had the opportunity to do some spontaneous projects with the children and of course I fell in love with one little boy and now sponsor him for school.
I returned to Haiti by myself in April of this year for 2 weeks to volunteer at God’s Littlest Angels Orphanage near Petionville. The love they are sharing there is so incredible.
God has been breaking my heart for Haiti since the first time I set foot on the ground in Port-au-Prince and I am returning in March with another mission team from CWO and then am trying to make arrangements to stay on for an additional week to volunteer at RHFH…I have been following Licia’s blog and feel God calling me to serve there…it is so exciting to hear how you have started the artists program in Cazale. A friend from the mission team and I are making blankets for Licia to use in the caskets of the little ones who God takes home…I hope she ends up not needing them but know this is a reality there.
I was wondering do you have a website for your artwork?
God’s Blessings upon you for acting on your Holy Discontent.
Roberta says
October 6, 2011 at 10:01 amThank you Angela! Miss you too!!!
Roberta says
October 6, 2011 at 1:17 pmThank you Jamie! Wow. God has obviously been touching your heart a lot this past year as well. 🙂 We are hoping to visit GLA when we arrive in Haiti this week and I’m so excited to learn more about them and see the wonderful things they are doing.
Our website is http://www.artistsforhope.org
All donated artwork from the states helps children in the Rescue Center and different emergent things that have come up in the area. The items made by artisans in the art co-op help the artisans directly and helps with different projects in the Cazale area. We will be adding new things on our website when we return from Haiti.
Thank you so much for your encouragement and blessings to you as you follow whatever it is God has in store for you!
Amy says
October 9, 2011 at 9:03 pmRoberta you are a true blessing to the people of Cazale and the people @ the RHFH, along with those that know you in the states. Thank you for putting your Holy Discontent into action! You are amazing!!
Cassie says
October 11, 2011 at 12:32 pmRoberta,
What a great organization you started to help these sweet kids. I can totally relate to your experience. I was part of the Austin Stone Church team from Austin that visited RHFH last week (Weds). We were primarily helping Heartline Ministries in Port au Prince during our week in haiti but 4 of us were able to go for a day to RHFH. I actually didn’t even know about the rescue mission and thought we would just be working in the cholera house.
But from the moment I saw Stanley, the sweet little boy who was so swollen from kwash, and all the other kids, my heart was broken. That evening after we returned to Port, I was filled with the most overwhelming feeling of heartbreak and sadness and just broke down sobbing. I keep asking God what does it mean and what does He want me to do with the feeling.
Interestingly, last night someone from our team was telling me about Holy Discontent and what it is. Then today I saw this blog. I had never even heard of it. I really think that might be what I am feeling. I am just praying that God will show me what to do next. I was so touched by RHFH and what they are doing for the people of Haiti.
Praying for you all.
Cassie