Haiti Team Interview Three: Corey

At eighteen years of age, Corey was the youngest member of the team. Both good-humored and unafraid to engage strangers, he stood to me as the friendliest of us. It was with Corey, in fact, that I talked the most on the trip. He loves to tell stories, not least his own, and relishes in the humor of life's daily mishaps. Corey's character slowly unfolded as the trip went on, especially in his interaction with the children, but it was revealed in particular near the end while discussing an issue obviously near to his heart. This was momentary, but noticed.

Corey's story in Haiti began last year at a service at his church called Lighthouse. It was here that he heard the team leader first announce the trip for the next summer. When he first heard the announcement, he felt what he called "the most amazing feeling inside of [his] chest," that God was telling him to go. To get feedback, he first talked to his friend about it. She supported him, but was the only one around him to do so.

This, perhaps, was not the only obstacle for Corey. He had, he said, been facing spiritual battles leading up the trip that made him reluctant to commit. Indeed, though he was among the first to be called about Haiti, he was among the last to join, and for a time was placed on a waiting list. After finally committing to the trip, he continued to face doubt, particularly in regard to his ability to raise enough money for the trip. It was in this moment of doubt, however, that God showed up.

It began with a homeless man. As he walked to church one early Sunday morning, he encountered a man who asked for bus money. He had no money, Corey replied, and in fact had to go because he was heading to church. "Church?" the man shot back. "Don't give your money to me. Give it to the church." Then, awkwardly, the man continued to repeat the phrase "Don't doubt God." Corey stood in that strange place we all face when you wonder whether it is right to walk away. The man, however, began to leave, repeating the phrase as he did.

Corey thought this interesting, but went about his business. Later in the week, having lamented to his mother over the phone about his lack of funds, Corey learned that the team had been fully funded. This became a lesson to him, a lesson "preached" to him by a homeless man while walking to church. Tears welled up in his eyes as he heard the news about the team's funding. He had doubted God, and thought to himself that if God had called him to go to Haiti, he would also provide the resources to go. In his mind, by doubting himself, he had also doubted God.

Others would, perhaps, not be as harsh as Corey was to himself, but it taught him to trust more fully nonetheless. That moment of clarity provided a picture of fulfilled need that will remain with him, perhaps as vividly as what he's experienced on the trip itself.