an answered prayer - shoes

Many of the teams that come down to Haiti leave some of their belongings for us to give to the Haitian people. Some want the items to go to particular people in the community, some just say whoever is ‘most in need’. This statement is so difficult for me. Because in Haiti this meaning is very different then it is the United States. But I do take this seriously, I also pray a lot about what is being distributed. I know that the people in the neighborhood, those closest to the church or those that have made friends get the most and I struggle if this is fair. I wanted to share with you about a pair of shoes. There was a nice pair of shoes that was left in Haiti by a lady last September, and she said ‘give them to someone that really needs them’. Most Haitians need shoes, you look around feet everywhere and the shoes are tattered and wholly, from walking around on the horribly rough rocky ground. I kept the shoes at my house and waited, which I know I also struggled with, they should have been on someone’s feet right away. But one day, a couple months later, a women was being led up to Lee’s porch. She was being led by her sister because she was blind and needed to come to the house to get education sponsorship information for her child.
She was wearing flip-flops that were almost worn through in the bottoms. I looked at her tired feet trying to walk on the red, rocky roads of Mizak without even seeing, and I knew, those shoes were meant for her. Later I found out she was the aunt of a friend of mine and he brought her by the house to get the shoes. She was very happy and thanked me. And I sent up a prayer of thanks for the blessing of getting to find the home for those shoes and the individual that left them there to make a difference in someone else’s life.

living the gospel

Traveling down to Haiti in March of 2009 was met with much excitement and anticipation. I did not know what to expect but I was open to all the possibilities. One of my biggest surprises was one we arrived all the people asked us if we were Christian. This seemed very odd to me and they even asked us sometimes several times in different ways. I was not used to this but tried to keep an open mind, quite honestly there are many definitions out there on what a ‘christian’ is and I didn’t know fully what that might mean in Haiti. But we spent the week learning all about and working with the Solar Oven Partners alongside of the Haitian people. We worked, laughed, and worshiped together. One of our many evenings staying up late in the church talking, the pastors eldest son Dylo sat down to share with me. He wanted me to understand something. He started, “You know when you first came here we were not sure of your group.” The community was told that this group of Americans was coming into do something for the community, not preach the gospel as other missionaries had done in the past. I thought back to when we first arrived and everyone asked us if we were Christian and thought this had made sense in the way we were received (especially because since then this has not been my experience in Haiti). Dylo continued full of heart and said, “So we knew you were not here to preach the gospel and many people did not know what to think of that, but you know… you are living the gospel. You came in to truly help the people. You came to teach us something and give us a way that the people can help their families.” My heart swelled with joy at these words and still two years later bring tears to my eyes. We need to be living the gospel. “Actions speak louder than words.” So what are you doing in the world? In your neighborhood? You don’t have to be a preacher, you don’t have to be a bible beater, you don’t even have to be a Christian (with a capital C). Jesus was blessing the people and teaching them how to help their neighbor and the stranger. Jesus reached out to those that were being marginalized by society. The outsider, the unclean, the misfits of society, that is who Jesus was with and loved. So act in love and see what happens, challenge yourself to step outside of your comfort zone a bit.

Amos - a friend and hard worker

I wanted to tell you about my dear friend Amos. I worked with Amos a lot in Mizak, Haiti. He was one of the construction bosses for HAPI. He learned the trade from his father John and worked along side him and their friend Silas. Amos was the main guy to go to for estimates on the houses that HAPI was repairing. When I volunteered with HAPI we would go out and inspect homes and Amos and his father would make estimates. He was an extraordinarily hard worker. He was very diligent on working on the projects and was always willing to help out in other areas too. He enjoyed very much working with the teams that came down to work on construction. He fixed many a thing around my house also. One day on the motorcycle, he drove around for taxi he asked me when I was going to visit him, his wife and two kids. I told him we needed to figure out a day and I would come over - I would love to meet his family. I never got that opportunity. But I will visit his wife and children when I return and tell the how much I loved Amos and how much I enjoyed knowing him.
You see Amos was killed 2 weeks ago when he was doing taxi on his motorcycle. A couple of men from PaP were riding with Amos leaving Jacmel. They took his bike and left him by a bridge. There have been reports of this happening other places and it is possibly gang activity.
This is terribly sad of course for Amos's family and friends; but also for the country. There is desperate situations going on in Haiti. People don't have roofs over their head, food on their plates, or clean water to drink. This causes people to lash out in desperate ways. Open your hearts to the people on the island just south of our bountiful country. Lift up prayers and look for ways that you might be able to get involved to help make a difference in the lives of the Haitian people.
Amos was a dear man and will be missed.