Saturday, March 26, 2005
The Hope of Easter
On this Easter Sunday Faith and I have been asked to speak briefly at church about our short experience in Haiti. This will undoubtedly be a frustrating experience for us because 1. we haven't decided on what we want to say! and 2. we don't feel like a 5 minute talk does any justice to the experience, to Haiti, or to our church.
Regardless, the time will come to open our mouths, so when it does I'll likely say something similar to the following:
Faith and I have been asked a few times after our trip to Haiti about the business of "saving souls". The questions usually sound something like "How many souls did you save?" or "Did anyone get saved?" Our response generally is that this wasn't a "mission" trip per say, it was more of an "exposure" trip where we as the comfortable, food-in-our-belly, money-in-our-pockets, cable-in-our-homes Americans got to see what that particular culture is like.
However, what I personally discovered on the trip, is that if anyone got saved, it was me. The Haitians already know about Christ. Over the past couple hundred years, we've introduced Jesus and, sometimes, polluted their culture with our way of church. But nonetheless, a good and growing portion of Haiti are believers. In fact, they probably have a better understanding of Christ than I do! The Beatitudes are practically a declaration of behalf of those who suffer! Christ spent most of his time with the poor, the sick, and the hungry. Yes, he at times dined with the rich. (See Zaccheus.) BUT, afterwards, their lives were often left turned inside-out and upside-down.
Thus, I'm left with the undeniable fact that Christ is known more to most Haitians than to me. As I sit and reflect on this Ressurection Sunday, it hits me that there's probably one aspect of Jesus in which Haiti may not know fully--Christ risen. If my Haitian brothers and sisters have trouble grasping anything about our Lord and Savior, it is that he was resurrected on this day. For with his resurrection, came his eventual ascension, which leads to Pentecost--the coming of the Holy Spirit. And with the Holy Spirit, which is promised to all believers, comes a power that can change hearts, lives, families, communities, cities, countries, and even the world. What positive change has Haiti seen? Can an honest answer be made for the poorest country in the western hemisphere? So, if there's any part of Christ that LaCharit, Conel, Jordany, or Wesners may not grasp, understand, or accept, then it's probably that of Christ risen from the dead.
What will it take for our risen Christ to be evident in Haiti?
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I had a particular eye for children while in Haiti. Here's a good handful of some of my favorite shots. I like to think of these as the "hope" of Haiti. These generations will be growing up without the firsthand knowledge of the brutality of the dictators of the 20th century. So hope lies in these children, as there aren't yet a set of scars to overcome.(Don't forget you can click on the picture for a better view.)

The little boy on the right was practically my shadow all week. He tried to teach me a version of marbles, and how to build a house out of sticks. He rarely spoke, and he didn't understand my Americanized Creole, as hard as that may sound...so I never could figure out how to pronounce his name. Nonetheless we had a grand ole time together.

Those are lemons believe it or not. That little girl ran to the road to try to sell us some when she heard the loud white people coming by. Defintely one of my favorite pictures.

A four month old we were able to hold at one of the local orphanages.



Faith's friend, Jordany, reading to her out of her Essentials of Comparative Politics textbook. Don't ask.





There's a striking difference from childhood to adolescence in Haiti. The children, as are most children, are all full of energy, play, and laughter. However, many teens become very unhappy, dissatisfied, and seemingly angry. Our two friends here were generally carefree most of the time, but you could see a change occurring.

Thanks to a gift from friend, Randall, from church, I was able to take a handful of kites...and boy did the Haitians boys have a lot to teach me about flying kites!!!

(I'm the one in the hat.)

Apparently, "London Bridge" wasn't a smash hit, so these girls were trying to give Faith a lesson or two.

Could anyone be more happy and devious at the same time? :)
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