This week so far in Haiti has been one of the most memorable in my life. There is so much about it to describe that I don't even really know how to start, but I will do my best to put the indiscribable into words. Hopefully you will get some idea of what is going on within me.
Haiti is amazing in many ways. I will start with the people here. As a people, they have so much more hope than I expected. They inspire me in so many ways. I have heard the stories and accounts of Pastor Kesnel, Pastor Alsa, Pastor Romnal, and others. They have inspired me in different ways. Kesnel and Alsa struck me because they both come from hard backgrounds and yet have the hope and the will and the love for Christ to expand His kingdom in everything they do. Just today, while we were at a metalworkers shop, Pastor Kesnel told two of the workers enough about Christ in about 30 minutes that they both asked to be converted to Christianity on the spot. It was so powerful. Meanwhile, Pastor Romnal from World Relief left me with different ideas. During his account of the Umoja strategy, he made a point that has changed the way I see service. He said that when outsiders go into an underresourced community and ask what the community has to offer to help itself, they often will reply with "I have Nothing." He used a story from the bible to illustrate this. In it, a woman is asked what she has. She replies, "I have nothing, except a small jar of honey." She then used that honey to pull herself out of her financial hole. Basically, the idea is this: poor communities often will say they have nothing. But there is always some small "except" at the end. They undervalue what they have and don't realize that it can be used to help them.
More on the people of Haiti. Believe it or not, the pastors have not had the deepest impact on me. What has really struck at my heart is the children here. Our translators, David and Ralph, are both around 20 years old. They have told us their stories, their background, their hopes, things about them that I didn't expect to hear. They have inspired me. Also, the children at the orphanage are incredible. Pastor Kesnel's son, Eastwood, is 19, but is almost exactly my size. We have been hanging around together a lot the past couple of days, which is made slightly difficult given that he speaks little English and I speak almost no Creole. Still, he has made an impact on me. I enjoy his company and love to hear what he has to say. The other kids have impacted me too. Now when I say kids, most of the ones I have gotten to know are older than me, so they aren't little kids by my standards. But they are amazing. Yvens, Josias, and all the others speak little English, but say so much by what they do say and by their actions that I can't help but to be moved by them. The little children as well are awesome. From bringing mangoes to us fresh off the tree to holding our hands every time they see us, they strike deep in me and I will not forget them.
There is so much more to say about Haiti, but I feel none of it is as important to me right now. I could go into the poverty or the hopelessness or the hunger that are all very present outside of our safe little community of this orphanage, but what has captured me is the children. I know that when I leave here I will not forget them ever. I would love to come back, to do everything I can for them. We will see how that works out. In the meantime, I will leave you with our activity from this evening. We were asked to use three words to describe our experience here so far. Mine are as follows: inspiring, exhausing, and home. The inspiration comes from the people, the hope they have despite their circumstances. The love they show others despite having so little for themselves. It is both heart warming and heart wrenching at the same time. The exhaustion is both mental and physical. Physically, it is over 90 degrees and we have 15 hour days, in addition to several hours of sports daily, so we are exhausted. Mentally, we are worn down too: I have seen so much in so little time that I had never experienced before. Just trying to process all of that leaves the mind frayed. It is exhausting, but worth every second. Lastly, I said home. This really sums up the trip for me. I mean it both literally and figuratively. Literally, we feel at home, we are welcomed, the people are hospitable, it is a loving environment. Figurativelly, however, I feel home, like this is where I should be, like I was made for this. Whatever I experience when I get back home, I know that part of me will stay here, and one day I will have to return for it.
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