Call to 'do something' inspires women's gathering

Diana Nelson is living proof that one thing can lead to another.

Last February, Nelson signed on for a mission trip to Haiti with a group from Celebration United Methodist, felling compelled to go for three reasons: To help others, to find God and to find herself.

“I accomplished that. Did I need to go to Haiti to do that? No, but then again, yes, I did, because I needed to get away from my everyday life and the surroundings I’m comfortable with and live in,” she said. 

Thousands of miles away and few comforts of home, Nelson said the missionaries helped with medical and construction needs. Staffed with a nurse, an interpreter and two doctors from Haiti, the medical team organized a clinic inside a church and over five days saw more than 1,000 people.

“They came from everywhere,” she said. “They hear that this clinic is here and when our team went there in the morning, there was already a lineup of people waiting to get in. They have no medical insurance, and if they don’t have money they can’t see a doctor, and so they come in droves.”

Nelson’s missionary role was with the construction team, which was tasked with repairing a roof on a small home that was being turned into a clinic. All of the construction was done by hand, she said.

“They mix the cement by hand, shovel it into a bucket, and we picked up the bucket and carried it to where they needed to pour it,” Nelson said. “It’s just a very, very slow process.”

That experience, Nelson explains, inspired a future trip to visit her brother in Gainseville, Fla., and yet another “I was supposed to be there” moment.

“My brother was at work one day and I was home with his husband and he had a stroke. So, I was alone there, was able to call 911 and get the help that he needed right away,” she recalled. “We thought that was amazing that I was there. … Everything turned out OK, it was caught early enough, and he recovered.”

On her return flight home , Nelson said the song, “Angels Among Us” by Alabama, popped into her head.

“I had been thinking about his stroke, and I just thought, ‘I was supposed to be there.’ As I heard that song, I remembered that I had found a penny in their guest bedroom. In the past, I’ve always believed that I have a guardian angel, and when I needed help or something, I would find a penny in random, weird places, and so I thought of that penny when I heard that song, and I thought, I was supposed to be there, and because I went to Haiti, it kind of all intertwined that I ended up going to see my brother.”

Then Nelson began finding pennies in other random places. And she felt the copper coins were a sign that she needed to do something more. That something more came to her while taking in a speaker showcase for her work at CHS.

“I had listened to different speakers and several kept popping into my mind. ‘This one would be an awesome speaker for a women’s group at our church.’ It just kept popping into my head and I decided that I needed to do something for the women in our community – to come together, to celebrate we’re women, so I contacted one of the speakers (Gaye Lindfors, author of ‘God, Girlfriends & Chocolate’) and was able to have her come.”

She also enlisted the help of fellow missionary, Julie Johnson, whom Nelson forged a friendship with through their Haiti trip.

“I have this idea,” Nelson told Johnson, whose immediate reaction was, “Wow, let’s do it.” 

God, Girlfriends & Chocolate begins at 9 a.m. Saturday, with brunch from 10-10:30 a.m., followed by keynote speaker and author Gaye Lindfors. The event also features vendors, door prizes, raffles and music by the church praise band. 

Nelson said proceeds will benefit further missions in Haiti through Tea-based LaGonave Alive.