“Bondye pa renmen Ayiti” (God doesn’t like Haiti) is the word on the street..."

Whirling, whirling, whirling...that is what my noodle-y head feels like. Off work today unexpectedly, and I suppose that is a very good thing. I think if we choose not to slow down on our own, God forces us to by making it physically impossible to do anything else. He takes good care of us.

I have Haiti on my mind all the time, and wonder what the mamas are feeling like in Port-Au-Prince today. I wonder how much more damage will be found, and how many more dead. One missionary letter I read said that their courtyard at the school they teach is filled with the homeless families on one side, and dead bodies on the other side...literally. There is no where yet to take them. They have 300 people using the yard as bedroom, kitchen, and toilet. And how do they get food and clean water for all these? How?

The Living Proof Ministries Blog (www.ivingproofministries.blogspot.com) posted a letter from a missionary family in northern Haiti that gave me a better perspective this morning. Pam McCormick and her husband are graduates from the Moody Bible Institute and have been serving for 3 years in Haiti. They have two sons, with a third baby due in the next two weeks. Pam wrote this post from her experience, feeling just the trembles of the quake and now trying to bolster her community through their mourning...she says "everyone has family in Port-au-Prince". I hope it encourages your heart as much as it did mine. This is an excerpt but you can go to the LPM blog to read the whole letter... it is worth it. Bring them YOU, Lord...bring them You.

“Bondye pa renmen Ayiti” (God doesn’t like Haiti) is the word on the street. And though I know it is the furthest from the truth, I can’t blame them for feeling like that. From its beginnings as a slave colony, the people of Haiti have suffered and endured unimaginable tragedy, abuse and injustice. When you think things just couldn’t possibly get any worse in Haiti, they do. Time and time again, Haitians display their iron resilience, and somehow find a way to press forward.

These are the days they don’t prepare you for in Bible College. These are challenges I don’t remember hearing about in my missions classes. It was all so fun back then—translating the book of Jonah from the Hebrew text, studying the historical backdrop of Jeremiah, and understanding the literary structures in the Psalms. And yet, what do I say to my neighbor who believes that God has forgotten about them? And even if I knew what to say, who am I to say it? After all, I have a roof over my head, food to eat, clean water to drink, and…at the drop of a hat, I can get out of this mess and go back to the comfort of the US if I want to. If I offer them myself, I offer nothing. But if I offer them Jesus, I offer everything. For who better to understand their pain and suffering than He who endured the pain and suffering of the cross. Who better to comfort than the Father who watched his own son as he was crushed under the weight of the sins of mankind. Why He allowed it to happen? I don’t know. But in times like these, I can only cling to what I do know. And I know that He is good, and that His thoughts are higher than my thoughts, His ways higher than my ways... Please continue to pray for the people of Haiti. May they turn to the God of all comfort, to Christ the Savior, and to the Spirit who intercedes on our behalf." Pam McCormick- Fort Liberte, Haiti from LPM blog post January 19, 2010

Pam's husband keeps a blog running as well, it has the current efforts and prayer requests.
http://highwaytohaiti.com/