I have experienced being in Haiti only to walk away wondering what it is like to be in Haiti…to really be in Haiti. You know, with no visa, passport or alternative to go somewhere different.
I can try to describe the best I can of what it’s like to be in Haiti but I can’t give real meaning to what it is to live there. I don’t live there and even if I did, as a U.S. citizen with a passport, I would always have a way out of Haiti. When I have gone, I have known that my time in Haiti would last for a number of days and then I would be on a plane…flying back to the comforts America has to offer.
It’s different when you see and hear the stories of people oppressed and in appalling poverty on the television or newspapers. Maybe we have a sympathetic moment lasting 3 or 4 minutes but then we change the channel or the phone rings or the pizza delivery man shows up and in that very instant we are back to living our American life. We forget.
I have to speak about this. My eyes have seen the need face to face. My ears have heard the cries in person. My hands have held the broken that we see on television. I am here to tell you these are real people no different than you or me. I am speaking because after walking away from them, I promised myself I would not forget them. I am screaming at the top of my lungs, waving alert flags, and shooting off emergency flare guns…well, not literally, but that expresses the desperation in my spirit to speak on behalf of our brother and sisters who are trapped with no voice.
Since being in Haiti, the Bible speaks differently to me. I hear Jesus and see His example through a new heart…
I have met many people in Haiti, people who love the Lord…our brothers and sisters. I can’t help but to think perhaps we are merely throwing scraps to them, all the while indulging ourselves in our American luxuries. Sure, we justify it. I justify it. I just wonder if Jesus is buying into our justifications.
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:16-19
1 comment:
May God's tender mercy spread upon all of us as we enjoy the many blessings he has given to us and has we horde them to ourselves and not share them with others. Thank you for the reminder of how much we have and how little we share, rather that be our finances, our prayers, or (usually the hardest) our time!! Love you, Alicia
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