The Country of Contrast

There is so much to take in.  Haiti is an incredible place, unlike any other.  The thing that strikes me most though is the never ceasing ironic contrasts.  Haiti is a country of contrast.  Contrast is everywhere.  And unlike in America, were we can live comfortably in the shadows of complacency and indifference, in Haiti there are stark polar opposites and your anywhere but in the middle. 

         On the surface you can see Haiti is a place of brilliant beauty, yet it is contrasted sharply by evidence of poverty.  There are tent homes with locks on the plywood doors.  There are 50,000 Mercedes trudging through trash and human feces in slum alleyways.  There are fragile elderly with childlike joy, and there are lifeless children starving on death’s doorstep.  There is graffiti and cars plastered with scripture and there is a thriving Satanic Voodoo culture.  And through all the pain and suffering people are extremely spiritual here.

      

   In reflection and time with the LORD I’ve come to the conclusion that circumstances here yields the strongest type of faith I've ever seen; a faith that is not tainted by living comfortably with wants within arms reach.  People here have a very passionate and intimate love for God.  I wish all of you reading this could experience a Haitian church service.  Worship lasts well over an hour accumulatively.  I’m amazed at their stamina as they praise God with all they have and majority probably only had one meal within the past day if their lucky.  People are on their knees and some even on their faces.  People are crying out to God, yelling out their praises and prayers.  It is so beautiful.  I think it is a spot on illustration of the conditions of our hearts…of all of humanity.  We are all in need of a savior.  We are all broken, confused, lost, scarred, and hungry.  Take a look inside of your own heart and you will find it.  For the first time in my life when I open my eyes I see what is in my heart…reflected and brought to life.  The walls of self-righteous pride that tower in North America have no purpose or place here.  It is freeing.  I relate to the Haitians.  My struggles are theirs…my circumstances may have been different but the God shaped hole we all bare is one in the same. 

         You see, prior to me coming here I had the idea that I was going to come in and help.  But in reflection I’ve come to the realization that that belief stems from me thinking I’m better than who I am serving…that I have something to offer them.  When in reality of the cross I really have nothing to offer them.  You see my education and trade of nursing can benefit others yes, but in the cosmic scope of life dependency on that alone would only yield temporary impact.  What we all need is something greater than ourselves to bring lasting change.  No matter how many band-aids I hand out, the sickness and depravity in our souls still exist.  When broken down to the finest scale poverty is a result of broken relationships.  This country, just like you and I, is in need of nothing other than JESUS. 

         Yes I realize how incredible idealistic that last statement seems but give it a chance…

         As North Americans we associate poverty immediately with material depravity…but the poor associate their poverty with feelings of hopelessness, humiliation, powerlessness, and voicelessness.  Our North American worldview has made us believe humans can make progress through their own strength.  People here do not need money or material wealth…look at where loads of material wealth has landed America…in high rates of divorce, drug addiction, and mental illness.  Everyone needs Jesus to transform them.  They need to know that they are deeply loved and valuable to gain confidence.  They need to have confidence to have the drive to create a sustainable trade or invest in their education.  They need to be empowered so they can learn to earn sufficient needs and maybe even material things through their own labor and in doing so they are moving closer to what God called us to be.

A common occurrence in Haiti...every week bus loads of “blans” (whites) hop out of buses, play with kids, pray for people, and maybe hand out some food but ultimately the people here are left in the same exact position they were in the week before, year before, and even the generation before.  People need to be empowered, not sold short with handouts and temporary fixes.  In order to see true transformation in Haiti people need to have the resources to be empowered.  That empowerment only comes from a ministry of people and processes rather than projects and products.  Like Jesus did in His ministry…people need to relationally be invested in.  That is why as an organization Mission of Hope doesn’t hand out toys or give food out when we go out and work in villages.  We let the church do that.  We empower the church to be the church.  Allowing the Haitians to help their own people. 

You see, probably like you, my first reaction is to feed the hungry and give them shelter…but the truth of the matter is if we help without teaching people about their full potential in the LORD and then further supplement that with tangible resources to carry that transformation out in a lasting way we’re just simply helping them through another day in hell, not bending down lending a hand and offering to pull them up out of the heat for good. 

“Our relationship to the materially poor should be one in which we recognize that both of us are broken and that both of us need the blessing of reconciliation.  Our perspective should be less about how we are going to fix the materially poor and more about how we can walk together, asking God to fix both of us”-When Helping Hurts.

I feel honored and blessed to serve and walk beside these people...helping one another...our faults contrasted, and better yet, overpowered by the hope and glory of Jesus. 

            A new generation is rising up in Haiti...