Rachel Zimmerman

Ephesians 6 informs us to "stand firm" and when we've done all we can do (armor ourselves), then to stand firm. That's where I'm at right now. I feel like I've been hit in every which way. Spiritual warfare, bad dreams, discouragement, family troubles, oppression, organizational difficulties, secondary trauma of all we see and hear around here, the day to day turmoil in haiti- the main bridge we take to drive collapsing, locals being murdered, observing judgement and condemnation within the missionary community...it's almost too much to bear. It's heavy... on top of the day to day heaviness here. I feel the weight of that heaviness.. for myself, for my friends, for this community, for this country. And yet, God doesn't call me to carry that by myself. He doesn't call me to carry that at all.    28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and h...

In case there was the perception that life around here is hugging and singing with orphans that come and visit the clinic ; ) ... here's a comical (hopefully) recollection of a day in the life of me. Scene: My alarm went off at 4:45am in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at a 2 star hotel called the "Red Carpet Inn" that cost me $137 for the night because it's cruise ship season and a conference was in town.  #winning I got out of bed and showered which would be my last hot shower for a while. I even blow dried my hair. #doublewinning.  I packed up my bag for the 3rd time with it's 44 pounds of glory full of chocolate, gifts for others and all things you can buy at Wal Mart and can't find in Haiti.  I headed downstairs for the 'hotel shuttle' that leaves promptly at 6am. My international flight was 7:15am so I was already cutting it close. But come on, the whole reason I booked the hotel was for the hotel shuttle! When I came downstairs to ch...

I've had the privilege of going to the beach a little more frequently lately. It is such a treat to get away, disconnect from work, eat different foods, and enjoy God's creation. The weather has been cooler in Haiti and the wind blows at the beach-- I've even gotten goose bumps at a few moments. WHAT?! God has been really kind in this recent season of trying to recover from compassion fatigue (if you want to know about it, check out this amazing blog: http://www.saritahartz.com/what-missionaries-need-to-know-about-compassion-fatigue/). Tonight I was standing at the rock barrier between the ocean and the beach. I was on the windy side of the beach and this song came to mind: You Make Me Brave by Bethel Music As Your love, in wave after wave Crashes over me, crashes over me For You are for us You are not against us Champion of Heaven You made a way for all to enter in I love to think of God's love crashing over me like a wave. It reminds me of t...

I don't know about you all but I am so sick and tired of... not being kind to myself.. of disliking myself.. and of being hard on myself. I'm doing a devotional by Priscillar Shirer with some other missionary women. Shirer asks the question: list what you like best about yourself? I wrote in the margin out beside the text, I have a hard time saying things I like about myself. I think satan LOVES for us to not live in the fullness of who God created us to be. Satan loves to hold us back. He loves for me to tear myself up in the isolation of my own mind. The truth is- I'm a fish out of water. I've never been a 'missionary' before. Yes, yes, I know.. we all are called to live on mission every day. But I have never been on the international mission field before. I don't have any particular missions training other than coming from an equipping church. Here's another truth-- I am learning how to run a medical clinic as I'm going. Yes I have a healt...

Hello Friends! I am very sorry it's been so long since I blogged. It was a little crazy between being in the states for Thanksgiving/wedding, then back in Haiti for 3 weeks opening a lab in our clinic and throwing Christmas parties for our house and clinic staff. Then I was back in the US for the Holidays and did quite a bit of traveling. I compiled a presentation summarizing how far we've come at the Onaville Community Health Center. We've now been open almost 4 months and I can hardly believe. I'm so thankful for each of our staff and the hard work they put in serving their community. One of the favorite parts of my day is getting to start off leading a small devotional with our nurses and ancillary staff at 8am. Welp - here ya go! Our clinic in September (it is now landscaped!) Clinic staff on September 17th, 2015- Clinic Opening! Started with 2 doctors, 5 nurses, security guard/translator, 2 cleaning staff, 1 clinic manager Patients started arri...

I'm not sure how many times I'll have to dive head first into the dirt to learn my lesson. But I do know (thanks to Jesus and Brene Brown) that vulnerability is key, not shaming myself is essential, and storytelling is a big part of "Rising Strong" (Brown's recent book) and getting back up after a fall.                   This past weekend, half of our staff went to the mountain to do a mobile clinic. The other We Care Haiti campus in the mountain is outside of Fonds des Negres (a good 4 hours away from where I live & work). Our staff did an incredible job of seeing well over 200 people in 1.5 days -- now that is hard work. I'm so grateful for them, their perseverance, hark work, and hearts for the health of their country. Friday morning - the 1st day of the clinic - I decided to try to be a gymnast before 6 am. I was getting out of bed the gymnast way instead of using the ladder like a logical human being. I reached over to the bun...

Balance-- isn't that the million dollar word? How do we achieve it? Here are a few of my thoughts after this week-- a great week and a very trying week here in Haiti. I knew it was a big week this past week. Heck it's a big several weeks. This week we will do our first  mobile clinic  (as an OCHC staff... We Care Haiti has done many mobile clinics in the past) in Fonds Des Negres area and then the following week, I head to the states! Hallelujah. Sometime in there we've got to start running a small lab in our clinic.  And I feel like I've been running a thousand miles a minute.. and I'm pretty tired. And when I get stressed, exhausted, and haven't spent enough time on self care & in the Word, I get: impatient, indecisive, and a people pleaser because I want to control how everyone feels about me (let's be honest.. that's what people pleasing really is, right?). This week we had dear friends in town from the US-- Dr. Ellen Palmer, RN, PhD...