Clarity

It’s amazing to me what the flash of a camera will reveal. It’s a split second of time, yet it exposes whatever is in the darkness. You see, not everything in the dark is bad. Brightness is often radiating in a form undisclosed until light reveals its image. This picture is one of those moments. I have often been taken by the brightness of the Haitians in the midst of such suffering, desolation, and poverty. But something else also amazes me, the outreach being extended toward these people. Our current trip in was like the flash of a camera compared to the lifetime most of these people will live within this dark country. But in an eight-day flash, we exposed a lot of hidden brightness. I love the glow of their smiles. It takes a trick or two to capture their smiles on camera, but it is always worth it. Of course it can be tricky capturing us American’s smiles as well. Back to the outreach thing… among us are some very brave individuals, willing to set aside the comforts and safety they feel at home to stretch their wings and soar to meet an altogether different culture, or flock of people. Thus were these that traveled with us on our trip to Haiti this time. The energy I observed expended on behalf of these people was nothing short of stunning! The gospel alive is what I have seen. And the glow on these faces says much about the hope that lives in this darkened land. I rest easier tonight knowing that the love that these have shared on our recent journey will not come back void. God is at work, and is at work largely! The flash of the camera grabbed the brightness of these faces reflecting glowing hearts, and we cherish that glow. May it burn brightly and long for these people. Blessings again.

Special Announcement

The Haiti Team will be doing a special presentation at the Traverse Bay United Methodist Church Sunday evening April 26th at 5:30 p.m. All members of our recent trip will be sharing impacts this trip had on them, things we did, and future vision. We welcome you to come and share with us. There will be pictures as well as opportunity to interact with the team members as well. We are anticipating a great time! I know this blog is read on a very wide spectrum of landscape, so not all will be able to join us. However, I will continue to post up more info and will continue sharing perspectives and progress on a weekly basis. Truth be told, I have run a pretty harrowing schedule since our return, and have taken just a little writing break while trying to get some other aspects of this ministry in place. More on that later! We persist in forging ahead in seeing what God has in store for Saint-Marc, and Haiti as a whole. God is on the move, and we are excited to be partaking in this opportunity He has set before us. We are airborne in our continuing adventure. This picture captures the sentiments of my heart with it's promise of great hope, many return trips, and seismic accomplishments in reaching the perishing! Blessings!

Desperation

This is a very disturbing word on several levels. The first being that we typically just don't like this word because of it's connotation. We use it flippantly, as a false pretense, but few of us really understand this word, and in all honesty, try to avoid the grasp of its tentacles. But every trip to Haiti reminds me of this word. As I contemplate our recent trip, and peruse the pictures, these of the noon time prayer are some of the most revealing, and disturbing pictures I fasten my eyes upon. As I have already mentioned, noon prayer is where approximately 100- 150 people show up at the property each day to pray. They pray from 12:00-2:30 p.m. And desperation is written all over their countenance. They are fasting, and many not out of choice, but necessity. There is no food at home, there is no work for food, there is no food for energy to work. Starvation is written all over their culture, erodes their bodies, saps and deludes their wills. Survival at this desperate level is not just difficult, it is nearly impossible. People are dying all the time. And yet as they pray and worship God they are on a different plane than me. Starving, and yet they bring more energy to their worship than would seem possible, joy permeates their faces and catches me with awe, for out of their desperation they know more of God and understand his will better than I! I spoke from Psalm 130 while I was there, and David declares that out of the "depths of his heart, he cried out to God." In our culture very little takes us to the depths of our soul. Very, very few are begging God for breakfast. We blame our government, or cry out "unfair", or seek for handouts. We label God "uncaring", all the time falsifying the real place we need to get to before Him who alone can resolve the human plight. Let us learn from these people not to bite the hand that feeds us, to resign ourselves more fully to his Sovereignty. It will work out in the end, He has promised that to those who believe. I hope we never have to fully experience what these desperate people have to experience day in and day out. Let us learn from them the proper dependence we need to have on God, let us not force Him to strip us, or continue to plunder ourselves by not seeking Him. Let us fully understand our human plight. We need Him, we need to desperately seek Him, perhaps through us He is resolved help heal this land of the Haitians. What greater privilege could we have than that. And in so doing, see our own country repaired along side of these desperate ones. Let us learn of desperation, let us understand... that we be part of the cure, and not the cause! By the way, these women are outside the tent because the tent is full. We couldn't get inside the tent for pictures, there were too many people inside! Blessings today!

Beautiful

Autumn in a comment made about last nights post called "Adeline" used the word "beautiful". It struck me. As I have shared many times in my posts, Haiti as a country is not beautiful. There are flowers there that are beautiful, there are dragonfly's and butterfly's, there are beautiful things there, but it is not a beautiful country. There is actually much ugly throughout this land. From houses, to broken vehicle's, to trash in the rivers, storm damage, it is a land ravaged by years of misuse, and inappropriate infrastructure. It is war torn and pock marked with disaster zones of all sorts. But there is a beautiful attraction in this land of oppression. It is it's people. 99% of the time as I walked the streets of Saint Marc, when I called out Bon-Jour, I received a greeting back with a warm friendly wave to accommodate the greeting. They wanted us to snatch them up in the lens of our camera, I think to forever capture them in a place where they would not be forgotten. I am with Autumn on this one. These are beautiful people, and it is hard leaving them. It would be great to have a number of them around. They are unforgettable, on many levels, unbelievable. The daunting circumstances of their county are etched in so much of what they do, and yet these pictures remind us that the human spirit touched by God can overcome the most unreal challenges. And do it with joy! I have faced frustration's embankment several times since returning from Haiti. Some of it is simply a reaction to the press and fury of our culture that misses so much in our disastrous press for more that is actually returning less. But some of it is wrapped up in what Autumn confessed. I miss these people, I wish their suffering could end, I wish no child tonight was going to sleep hungry, cold, lonely, afraid, and rejected. Pray for these children before pillowing your head tonight. And may God answer your prayers by granting a Haitian a full stomach, a good nights rest, and the warm embrace of God's love to carry them through another day. Blessings.

Adeline

This is the newest addition at the parsonage in Saint Marc. She is a little girl from Desdunes, another orphan Rob and Naromie have taken in at the house. This now brings the count to 5 that they are taking care of. Adeline is a little sweetheart. A great temperament, a beautiful smile, and a willing worker. She was so thankful for any food we gave her. She didn't really care for the taste of the Coco Wheats, but never complained, she just ate them up! Someone is buying her a Sunday dress and I am shipping it in with the drill bit. She is a delight.

Give me a Break!

I stumbled across this picture today and had to laugh. Very seldom do you get to glance at Robinson taking a break. He was a constant force of motion while we were in Saint Marc. He is a good administrator, but is very busy himself. At night he stayed with our team at the property and under the big tent, leaving his wife at home. Talk about dedication, our safety and comfort were not an option to him, but a necessity that he oversaw constantly. As I already mentioned in my post called "Angels" we had many eyes on us through the week, but Robinson was the person overseeing all those watchful eyes. And he was reported to by all. He always knew when things happened, and always followed up on making sure people were as comfortable as possible in this uncomfortable land. We were blessed. So when the lens of the camera caught this picture of Rob taking a break, it was a well deserved moment! That smile is awesome.

Sidewalk

I had mentioned in my "Advent Conspiracy" post yesterday about the sidewalk getting done. Here are a couple of pictures fresh from Haiti about noon today! Rob sent them from his machine that we took in this trip! These are some hard working guys pictured here. They are all from the church, and good men. They have done a great job, and this is a good accomplishment as all foot traffic on the property can now walk on cement to get from place to place! And that is saying something. Just ask a team member from our trip.