Hello from the mountains of Haiti, where life remains predictably unpredictable. A country where prime ministers and gang leaders rise and fall in power, an international airport closes for weeks on end, missionaries and nationals with a passport and some cash evacutate, ships postpone their plans to dock and unload desperately needed food and fuel, people starve, and it appears that evil reigns.
It’s also a country where Love is at work, if you have your eyes attuned to Him, looking past the hurt and pain, and into the eyes of the people. Around Alèg here, you can catch glimpses of Him in Frè Norès’s face as he gently places one hand on a distraught mother’s shoulder, and his other hand on her infant’s scraggly orange hair. You can hear Him in Sylvia’s voice as she practices kids songs in Creole with her guitar, preparing for Bible story time each Monday with the neighborhood children. You can see Him in Yevette’s smile each morning when she asks you how your family’s doing. You can see Him in Boss James’s manner as he firmly but kindly deals with a neighborhood troublemaker. You can hear Him in Mis Leda’s voice as she advocates for a pregnant lady in pain. You can see him in Frè Reynold’s actions as he regularly comes to work on time, devotedly triageing patients and taking their blood pressures. You can see Him in Stan’s gestures as he plays disc golf with the neighbor kids. You can see him in Pastor Levy’s life as he faithfully serves any and everyone around him with unwavering dedication. You can see Him in Mis Miranda’s determination to understand Creole and the Haitian way of doing things so she can better care for people. You can see Him in Jean Wilner’s perfectionism, as he strives to do his job to the best of his abilities, and exactly how Boss wants it done. You can see Him in Frè Daniel’s life as he displays patience and sacrificially serves his family and church. You can see Him in Madam Boss’s tender care, pouring time and energy into the lives of her growing sons. You can see Him in Frè Dolph’s smile as he greets each patient and weighs them. You can see Him in Andy’s patience as he welcomes people into his shop to weld together their broken things.
He is here. He is in our midst, working in the brokenness all around. Sometimes it’s hard to see Him. Sometimes we forget His promises to never leave us nor forsake us. To often, we forget he likes weakness, because it’s in our weakness His strength is manifested. Occasionally we doubt His Love.
But sometimes, we remember. We look around. We smile and take heart. We know we have Someone who will meet our daily needs. We know He chooses to use us as vessels to spread His love to whoever He’s sent our way. We pray they too would be able to catch a glimpse of Him, and want their lives transformed.
Photo 1: A girl whose reconstruction surgery got canceled due to gang activity near the hospital
Photo 2: A dad, happy to feed milk to his baby
Photo 3 : Doctor Veriel, assessing a baby who needs more advanced cared at a hospital
Photo 4 : Prayer time during a house call with Frè Norès
Photo 5: A baby born along the trail while the mom was entourage to clinic
