Individual faces, individual stories

I've watched this video over and over again.

While the world talks about prison breaks in Haiti, my prayers this week have been with those incarcerated at CERMICOL, those whose names we know, those whose faces I hold dear.

This young man's story is the story of so many.

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This teenager was 11 years old when he started working for a gang. He was homeless and hungry, he told CNN, and the gang offered him food.

Now, when other members of the gang kill people, they make him burn the bodies, says the teen, who is now 14.

He would like to get out – but he doesn’t know how. His mother lives outside of Port-au-Prince; he’s not sure how to reach her and couldn’t afford such a trip anyway."

“I wish she could come get me,” he told CNN. “I’d like her to take me out of this place.”

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Haiti isn't 11.5 million people. Haiti is individual people with individual stories.

From the comfort of our US existence, it's impossible to comprehend living in conditions where one truly does not see a way out, one does not believe there are choices, one is only looking to survive.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Happy birthday, Handy

Happy 12th birthday to the one who brought us all together. God used Handy to plant a seed in 2013 that grew into Haiti Awake.

Glwa pou Bondye. 🇭🇹

Stories We Have Heard and Known

I am in Arkansas for a couple weeks, helping my son and his soon-to-be bride prepare for their big day. Being here brings a pause from the normal and extra time for morning reflection.

This morning’s readings took me to Psalm 78:

“I will teach you hidden lessons from our past—
stories we have heard and known,
stories our ancestors handed down to us.
We will not hide these truths from our children;
we will tell the next generation
about the glorious deeds of the Lord,
about his power and his mighty wonders.”

— verses 3 and 4

A fun time for Handy at his 9th birthday party yesterday. Oh, how God is redeeming his story.

May we always remember what God has done at Haiti Awake through the years, and may we never fail to remind the next generation of all we ourselves have seen and experienced.

“So the next generation might know them—
even the children not yet born—
and they in turn will teach their own children.
So each generation should set its hope anew on God,
not forgetting his glorious miracles
and obeying his commands.”

— verses 6 and 7

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided. Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.

Thomas Chisholm

The Clarity of Compassion

And if we take the risk of personally touching and being touched by a suffering person, the miracle of sight can break into our own darkness.

When the clarity of compassion illuminates our vision, we can visualize healing that goes far deeper than physical cure. Through eyes of faith we recognize that this could be an opportunity for tragedy to be transformed into celebration so that the power of God may be seen at work in him and in her.

And even more amazing , when we stoop to personally touch one of these “undesirables” with hands-on care, we are touching the very heart of God :

“I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers [and sisters] of mine, you did for me”

— Matthew 25:40

                                                                                               ---Thoughts from Bob Lupton.