Sweet Surrender: How One Step of Faith Changed My Life

By Ellen Pierre Louis

Sweet Surrender is a book that will take you on the journey of a young woman who gave up everything in Canada to go after God's heart and His desires for her life. Ellen was a small country girl from Ontario who went all the way over to the island of Haiti by her¬self in 2008. She tells you her story of overcoming fears, stepping out in faith, living in a third-world country, and doing ministry plus all the in-betweens of how God pursued her, refined her, and brought her to her knees in surrender. Read about how she and her family survived the 2010 Haiti earthquake and the aftermath that followed. Ellen describes her experiences with real-life reactions, honesty, and a little humor with a side of sarcasm. Sweet Surrender will not only show you that God is still at work and is simply looking for willing hearts, but it will give you basic foundational steps to kick away fear and step into your calling. How many of us are willing to give it all up and take a risk for God? Would you do it if you knew He would change everything? Who's ready for the highs and the lows of doing the work of Christ? Let's go on this journey and see what God has in store.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9781646709403

Book preview

One Single Step

Have you ever felt, rather knew that God was calling you to something but the fear and risk of it all kept you back? What if you knew that taking just one small step in pure faith could change your life? By trusting in Him so much that you break through the barriers of fear and walk into your purpose and calling with confidence. Would you do it?

This is my story of faith, trust, and surrender that altered everything I knew.

*****

I’m thirty thousand feet in the air, wrapped in a warm sweater, and leaning over my arm rest to get a glimpse of the unending ocean below—every shade of blue so intricately placed through the movement of current and waves, like a painting. Small islands appeared as we get closer, and I can see the surrounding color of sand rung around each formation as it sits alone in the vast sea. My mind took me on a journey as I tried to numb the butterflies fluttering inside my stomach. Whose idea was this? What was I thinking?

It was only just two weeks ago I sat in my sister’s kitchen and wrote the e-mail that would change my life forever! I thought back to how this all started and stood in awe of God’s great plans and how He unravels them in His own remarkable way. I closed my eyes to try to calm my nerves and my mind began to race, thinking back to that day when I was asked, Ellen, why don’t you come with us to Haiti?

Being a sheltered young lady from the small rural town of Bobcaygeon, Ontario, I had no idea where Haiti was or anything about it. For those who don’t know, let me get you caught up just a little. Haiti is a small island of the Caribbean. It is considered one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere today, despite it once being one of the richest colonies of France and considered the Pearl of the Caribbean. The history of Haiti is truly fascinating, and there are tons of videos and articles that you can look up to find out much more in-depth information about it.

I am the youngest of four kids, and my idea of fun growing up was singing into an old fence pole that was left in our yard. The echo and reverb were perfect for my Whitney Houston solos. So you can have an idea that I wasn’t necessarily the traveling type. But this tiny brown-haired freckled gal needed to shake things up a bit, so saying yes to something as exotic as going to the Caribbean was easy. I had never been on an airplane or traveled in any capacity, so that was a bit scary. My young twenty-one-year-old self saw an opportunity for a grand adventure and I was going to take it.

My sister was connected with an organization which worked in one of Haiti’s small cities called Jacmel. We had plans to go help at an orphanage they supported. Going for those short seven days was definitely interesting. After landing, I barely survived as we drove through the mountains. My stomach almost came inside-out. And it wasn’t my finest moment, but vomiting on the side of the road definitely made for some family memories as my brother joined me in the act. We were your typical mission team with a purpose and plan in place. My sister, brother-in-law, and oldest brother all led the way as I followed. I got a real wake-up call to how blessed we are to live in a country like Canada. Like I said previously, I am the youngest of four, and being with two of my siblings on this trip really showed me how much I relied on them. I was like a duckling following her mama every step of the way. Whatever they did, I just did as well. We stayed at a YWAM (youth with a mission) base and even shared the complex with another team from the states that was there for another mission.

It was fun as there was always a ton of people around and kids everywhere to play with. But truth be told, in all honesty, my North American spoiled mind only saw my surroundings through shallow eyes. I loved the experience I had, but in the back of my mind I was saying to myself, How do people survive here? I…would never be able to live here. I couldn’t wait to get back home just to be able to tell people what I did and where I went and show my amazing national geographic photos off. And I did just that—feeling so proud of myself and excited to add this to my repertoire of life experiences. It didn’t take long for the feeling of appreciation to slowly dissipate after a couple weeks back home, and the norm began to set back in. Having just graduated from college, I was on a path to success and couldn’t wait to be in the city working for a graphic design firm living the dream! But God had other plans, and He was waiting for the perfect time to break it to me.

Turbulence awakened my hypnosis back in time, and I was thrust forward as the captain began to speak and the seat-belt sign rings. I looked out the frosty edge oval frame and started to see familiar landscapes ahead. The mountains began to peak through the clouds and I started to see the land below. Treeless, the ground was laid with layers of dirt. The rippled effect of the farmland dribbled down the sides of each mountainside and the winding roads wrapped around and traveled deep into the valleys below. My chest was beating faster and faster as we approached, and the captain called for the attendants to prepare for landing. A sense of calm and peace came upon me as I’m reminded at how God has prepared this just for me, for this time and for this place.

*****

Just a few months after returning from my previous mission trip, my family and I moved from one province to another. I decided to go with them and try to find something in my field or at least start my own business, but I couldn’t find work, couldn’t get clients, and found myself at the beginning of summer feeling a little lost. I began to pray and fully give myself to the Lord to renew my mind and help me find my path. I had grown up in a Christian home since ten years old, but it was really only just a few years prior to this that I fully dedicated my life to God. Of course, what I had in mind for myself was on the opposite pole of what God had in mind.

As I prayed, I couldn’t stop thinking about Haiti. I just kept seeing those faces, and my heart began to beat out of my chest. Inside I was saying No, I don’t want to go back there, Lord. But as the tears fell and my face swelled up, my sister who was praying with me wrapped her arms around me and I realized I was being called. Fear overwhelmed me. Could I really do this? Without anyone? By myself? This had to be the craziest and scariest thing I could have ever thought of doing. I had never stepped out or away from my family, let alone to another country. But I knew that the Lord was talking to me and He said go!

With an empty summer ahead of me, I took a huge leap of faith and said to the Lord, If you want me to go, then I will go, but you have to help me. I was so scared of stepping out into something so new and so risky that I needed God to show up and lead the way. There was a missionary woman we had acquainted ourselves with on our trip from before. I felt the urge to e-mail her and ask if she needed any help that summer. Within hours, she replied with a resounding yes. She had been needing the help and didn’t know where she was going to find it. So with a person and place to go to, I asked the Lord to provide the money needed. The same week, we received a call from a family friend who had extra miles on her airmiles card and didn’t want them to expire and asked if we could use them. Of course, it came to the exact amount I needed to buy an airplane ticket directly to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Amazed, I gulped and knew this was happening. My church also stepped up and provided all the extra funds I needed to go. I walked upstairs, packed my bags, and booked my flight to leave for seven weeks to stay with a woman I didn’t know, by myself. I didn’t know what to expect, what I was going to do, and how it was going to be, but I knew I had to trust God because He knew. I left it all behind reluctantly excited and boarded that flight never to return the same.

*****

The wheels of the plane touched the hot pavement in Port-au-Prince and the brakes pushed us all forward. Definitely no turning back now. Flashes of my previous trip flipped through my mind like a comic strip coming to life. I was remembering the chaos of the airport and how you have to collect your bags and then walk outside to an empty concrete yard, fenced in, keeping out all the people picking up their relatives and friends. With everyone screaming over each other to find their person, it was an overwhelming experience I was dreading to do by myself.

I collected my two suitcases and with confidence and a stride in my step, I turned the corner and exited the building where the wall of hot humid sticky air not only instantly made me sweat but also attacked my perfectly straightened hair that slowly curled up and frizzed from edge to edge probably making me unrecognizable, or so I thought. I stood there in a sea of people staring at me. Shading my eyes, I was looking back and forth, back and forth, yelling out my friend’s name, just praying she is here and sees me. Within in a couple minutes, I heard my name and my head perked up to find where it’s coming from. There! I saw her. Excited, I ran and immediately felt relief. I follow her steps as I can’t wait to get into that air-conditioned car and feel the cold air normalize my body temperature.

We walked out of the airport and past the parking lot. I kept turning my head back in confusion to see why we were walking past the cars, but I kept following right at her heels. I just had to trust. We entered the streets of Port-au-Prince and now I’m really not sure what’s going on. We passed by street vendor after street vendor, people just everywhere, walking, selling, talking, laughing, and yelling. Small swept garbage piles