Hope for Haiti

Most of you know that I recently returned from a week-long mission trip to Haiti.  I've been back 5 days now, but I still haven't really processed everything and I'm not sure that I totally know how to.  Maybe writing about it will help, so let's give it a try...

I and two other members from my church (Trish and Wayne) joined a group of 10 others on a trip organized by Bellevue Baptist Church and Sunduloi Ministries Inc. Haiti (aka SMI Haiti).  I signed up for the trip months ago, and we really didn't know what our specific tasks would be until we got there.  I initially signed up because of my specific interest in the medical aspect of the trip, but in reality, we did little to none of that because the greater need was construction/painting.  I really struggled with that at first, but along the way, God helped me let go of my control and selfishness to just be willing to serve in whatever capacity I was needed. 

Bellevue has been sending groups each month for over a year now to work on building a Christian school to replace one seriously damaged by the earthquake.  The grand opening for this school is September 1st, and we're the last large group to go before then, so we had a real impetus to complete as much as possible while there.  We painted, and painted, and then painted some more...and it was the tedious kind of painting where you're cutting in and going back to fix flaws, etc.  We also hung and painted blackboards, landscaped, and did general cleaning up of the building and grounds.  Everyday there were lots of kids (mostly young boys) hanging around the schoolyard to play basketball or just watch us work, so we had many opportunities to interact with them and many received Creole Bibles after coming and actually asking for them specifically.

Haiti is dirt poor (there's just no way around it) and nearly everyone we saw that week lives it.  But, the absolute worst we saw was in a "tent city".  "Tent cities" are sites where temporary housing (tents or plywood structures) were set up by organizations like Samaritan's Purse after the earthquake in January 2010 to house those who had lost their homes.  In reality, many of the people who live in these dwellings never had homes to begin with.  Many of the children run nude in the streets because they simply have no clothes.  There is no grass, only dirt, and most everyone is filthy with it.  We spent a little time at one of these cities to hand out bags of rice, which might feed a family a meal or two.  Frankly, it was really depressing to go and see how they live and then have only a bag of rice to offer.  I prayed for these people and their futures the entire time we were walking through the rows of "houses" to distribute the rice; children would come from everywhere to walk along with us or hold my hand and my heart just crumbled.  I wanted to ask God "why?", and I have questioned Him in my heart.  But I know that He sees them and their pitiable state better than I ever could and that His compassion is deeper than mine will ever be.  Poverty and suffering is not new under the sun, and it's not limited to Haiti by any stretch of the imagination. 

So, here's what I know: God is good all the time; all the time God is good.  All of the suffering we see around us is the consequence of sinful humanity.  My attempts at good works are always marred by sin in someway: bad attitude, wrong motive, you name it...  and if you're honest with yourself, yours are too.  Sound familiar?  "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..." Romans 3:23.  If I stopped there, this would be the most depressing blog ever written and we'd be stuck with a world utterly devoid of hope.  By God's grace, there's so much more.  "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved..." Ephesians 2:4-5.  The extremes of poverty are heart-breaking to behold but are the result of greed, corruption, and ultimately sin.  I could spend my entire life trying to make that right and maybe have a small impact on some corner of the earth for a finite time.  While I believe Christians are called to serve "the least of these", that service itself could never counteract the effects of utter depravity that exists in the world.  Only by the free and gracious gift of forgiveness of sin through the substitutionary death of Christ is there any true, lasting hope in this world.  And that gift is offered to all: Haitian, American, Iraqi, whomever.  "For God so loved the world..."  I bet you can finish that verse even if you're not a believer.

Why so preachy, Les?  I guess in reality I'm preaching at myself more than anyone because my inner struggles through this trip with "how am I really helping these people?".  Here's how I believe this one week of my life might matter in the end:  We worked on a school that will provide an education for 1,100 Haitian children each year.  I hope that many of these children will grow up to be leaders in their community and change the state of their country for the better over time.  Far and beyond that though, in this school they will also be taught the gospel.  Some will respond.  Those children will grow up and teach their children, and another generation after them.  And someday, I (and I hope you) will worship with many Haitian believers in the presence of God Almighty for eternity.  That is the true hope for Haiti and the entire world.

I really didn't set out to write all of that, but it's straight from my heart.  I always question myself on writing so directly about such things in such an accessible way because I really don't know who all reads my blog.  Then I think, "that's the whole point, idiot!"  I'll tell the rest through pictures in chronological order with some captions.  I didn't take a lot of pictures of us working because that's just not that interesting, and I failed to take a good before and after picture of the buildings but I think you'll see a decent glimpse at the people and life in Haiti...

Here's a terrible, sideways "before" picture of the school.  I have no idea why I can't get it to display in landscape, but just tilt your head to one side and that will do.  The school is actually composed of three unconnected buildings.  The bright yellow paint you see here is just primer.  The windows are secured with bars but they are open to the air.  They are setting this building up, though, to have the luxury of running water and indoor plumbing for restrooms.  The electricity will be supplied by generator to run ceiling fans in the rooms and a lightbulb here and there.

Playground that was just installed at the school.  We were told that there might be one other similar to this in all of Haiti.

Trish helping dress this baby girl in a newly sewn outfit made by Charity, a girl that goes to our church.

Baby girl and her family.  They live in a house built by SMI Haiti next to the school complex.  After the school is completed, the plan is to build 50 additional houses like their's for families in need.

Nearly full-length, concrete basketball court for the school.  This is a very rare thing to see in Haiti.

One of the kids in the below picture took this picture.  Not too bad, huh?

The kids there(like kids everywhere) loved to have pictures taken of them so they could see their image on the preview screens of our digital cameras.  These three were particularly in love with the camera.

Trish and Markindy, one of our translators and security guys.

Shun, Wayne, and Trish

The mission house where we stayed.  You can see the tower with barrels of (cold) water, which allowed us to have water pressure.  Electricity is supplied to this house via a generator run on fuel.  Otherwise, there's not any electricity in the area and most of Haiti.

Mark and Sandra on the left are full-time missionaries in Guittone.  Rita and Ken on the right came from Indiana to be our cooks for the week.  They have served in this capacity up to 11 different times over the years for SMI Haiti.

Tough to see but this is a homemade basketball goal in someone's yard.

So proud of the Bible that he just received in Creole, the language of the Haitian people.

Haiti has much natural beauty, though much of it has not been preserved as it should.

We spent an afternoon at Wahoo Bay, a resort with a beautiful view.

Keke, who works at the mission house, wanted to braid my hair along with two other ladies'.

Besides looking pretty goofy, I'm regretting the braids at this point because I have a major headache from the tension.

Dancing with Keke's daughter, Gloria, who defines sass if anyone ever has!

After packaging these large bags of rice into smaller family-sized bags, I think we had around 300 to give out.

Silly white girls!

Another dress sewn by a lady from our church, Amy, that now is the proud garment of this beautiful toddler.

Another beautiful dress, this one sewn by Anita.  I noticed while in Haiti that most of the people seem to wear what honestly appear to be hand-me-downs from Americans.  We saw lots of American sports team shirts and even VBS shirts from American churches on people in the area.  Not that clothes really make the woman, but it was nice to be able to give some of these girls dresses sewn just for them.

Ladies showing off the crocheted headbands made by our crochet group in Memphis.  Shun and Benny (father and son and both pastors in the Memphis area) hopped in the picture with them.

Preparing to hike up a mountain that I never would have hiked up if I'd known how hard it would be!

At the top of Mt. Kenny.  A previous group erected this cross at the top.  We read some scripture and sang few songs while sizzling in the noon sun near the equator.  We did have vast, beautiful view of Haiti and the nearby coastline from here.

The novice and expert mountain climbers just before descent.

This is a bank on the road we took every day to and from the school.  Literally, this is pretty much what all of the "stores" looked like in the area we stayed in, which really isn't that bad off by Haiti's standards.

One of our first close-up glimpses of a "tent city".  Notice the girl seems inappropriately attired in a fancy (extremely dirty and worn-down) dress.  That's because it was likely a charity hand-me-down and one of the few (or only) items of clothing she has.  A few boys in the background are wearing t-shirts and nothing else.

I really wasn't intending to capture the nudity of this boy like this, and I debated whether to post it.  But if it offends you, then please be offended that people have to live like this and that children go without clothing because they simply don't have it.

This is the 4-year-old daughter of one of our translators, who is employed by SMI Haiti.  I think he's probably comparatively privileged to many of the people in the area, but still impoverished by American standards.  She's modeling a dress made by Nancy, another lady from church.

Only 5 of the 13 that set out from Memphis were women.  We had a great time together, though.

Our group along with the missionaries, cooks, and a few translators on our morning of departure back home.

Being silly with the Haitian men who kept us safe as well as translated for us all week.

In case you're wondering why I've been going so long between blogs, it's because I just worked on this from 10:20pm to 1am and Isaiah will wake at 6am ready to go.  I think this one was worth it, though, to share a bit of what I received in Haiti.