Over the past couple of posts, I've talked about two seemingly unrelated topics that suddenly merged for me yesterday. In my last post, I posed the question, "What does Good News look like for ________?". Meaning, Christ wasn't simply a message or a sermon. He was active in the lives of all those whose paths he crossed. So as Christ-followers today, what does the Good News look like to the many different types of people who we meet from day to day? In prior posts, I've discussed the "undermining" of Haiti--how, throughout Haiti's history, it has been subject to plots, coups, and overall petulance from within the country and without.

Yesterday, as I was completing the book, Getting Haiti Right this Time: The U.S. and the Coup, by Farmer, Goodman, and Chomsky, I noticed these two ideas (the identity of Good News and the underming of Haiti) actually join together. Amy Goodman, co-author, was interviewing Jean-Bertrand Aristide, president of Haiti before being overthrown. The interview took place as Aristide was preparing to travel out of exile and back into the Caribbean. During the interview, Goodman simply asked, "What do you want to happen now?" Aristide answered,

I always call for peace...CARICOM, which means all of the heads of the Caribbean countries, call for peace and restoration of Constitutional order....This is what I also call for. Allow me to give you a very simple example. Peace means for us, in this time, education and investment in health care. In my country, after 200 years of independence--we are the first black independent country in the world--but we still have only 1.5 Haitian doctors for every 11,000 Haitians...Peace means investing in human beings, investing in health care, respect for human rights, not violations for human rights...

President Aristide, before being elected into office, was a Catholic priest. Further, he served in the poorest of districts in Haiti. So he's aware of the plight of the poor. And he knows the Prince of Peace. Therefore it's not completely surprising to hear his initial response when asked about his concern for Haiti. As a leader and a priest, his concern is the same--for his people to receive the Good News. And what does that look like in Haiti?

Perhaps it would take the form of his italicized quote above--"Peace means for us, in this time, education and investment in healthcare." Of Christ's obvious roles on earth, it seems he fit that description quite well. How many times can you recall Christ teaching or being referred to as 'teacher' and how many times do you see Christ healing?

What does Good News look like for...


...the sick?



...the outsider?



...the orphan?



...the aged?



...those too poor for school?

Peace.