In approximately 12 days from now (March 11), Faith and I are going with Mission Waco to Haiti for an "exposure trip". (As opposed to a mission trip. We aren't going as some great white hype to serve and save, but rather as questioning and seeking Christ-followers with a hesitant desire to be bent, broken, and fixed.) I was lucky enough to go in 2001 and boy was that an experience! Sadly, that's all I can say about it--that it was simply an experience with some outstanding memories. I vividly remember coming back with a broken, but very much alive and rejuvenated heart that was set on personal change.

What change has occurred? Not much really.

I'm sure I've developed and matured in ways that are hard to measure. But when it comes down to it, I'm still making a comfortable $80-90/day, living in a 3-bedroom house with 2 dogs and a fenced-in yard. I complain and pitch fits when the seal on our faucet cracks causing water to spew into our sink incessantly. I forget the brothers and sisters in Haiti that I met nearly 4 years ago who draw their contaminated water from a public well that is only operational a fraction of the time. I forget about the men in the village who, for less than $1/day labor more in a single day than I do in months' time. I forget about the families of 5, 6, 7, and 8 who are lucky to live in a home with a single room.

Pray for us...pleaaaase pray for us. Faith's never really been out of the country (except for Mexico) and is a bit nervous about the whole no-electricity-&-safe-drinking-water-while-having-to-battle-mosquitoes
-&-outhouses deal.

As a couple it's our hope that we get some clarity about where our life will lead. It's quite possible that we won't end up going back to live in Haiti, but we have a desire to live and work with brothers and sisters who are struggling with poverty--be that domestically or abroad.

Further, our families are a bit concerned about the safety down there since Haiti had a coup about a year ago and is still occupied by the United Nations' forces. (Our trip should be quite safe, as we're flying into the opposite side of the country from which all the uprising occurred.)

My personal prayer request is to not only be broken and not only to receive clarity on the future, but it's also to simply fall in love again. I passionately fell in love with the Haitians 4 years ago.

What exactly did I fall in love with, you ask?

I fell in love with their overwhelming joy and hospitality in spite of (or perhaps because of?) extreme poverty.
I fell in love with the fact that their lives were wrapped in such amazing simplicity. They had a remarkable ability to live and entertain themselves with virtually nothing. (We would spend hours playing soccer with a simple ball and at night would sing, tell stories, catch fireflies, or listen to a small, battery-powered radio.)
I fell in love with a people who didn't care about degrees, job descriptions, or what I knew. In all my weaknesses and ignorance, they accepted me with open arms because I stepped into their village and into the midst of their lives. For that short time I was there, I was a Haitian who worked, laughed, played, talked, and communed with my neighbors.

So that is my sincere desire. To fall back in love. Upon my return back to the States, I've forgotten about my Haitian friends and have whored myself back out to materialism, greed, and complacency.

I have a feeling that Haiti will forgive my infidelity with the same open arms and love that I was met with in 2001.


May the love of Christ convict, correct, and commit me to a life of change.