Luke 16:26
"Though we are from different nations, we are joined together by you, the one God." Pastor Davide prayed these words today with Tenny, Ernest, and me. Can you hear these words, in the midst of all the flag waving, wall-building, cheering and jeering that is blasting out of Cleveland this week? Those noises are muted for us in Haiti. The sounds here are precious children laughing, pastors praying together, people singing. The language is different, the children have no shoes, the songs have a different rhythm. But I am constantly struck by our sameness, our unity as children of God in Christ Jesus.
Haiti is so hard. The problems are so deep. But the people are people. When I brought out a soccer ball for the children who were helping load concrete blocks on our work site, suddenly laborers were children again. They hugged me and cheered like I was a combination of Superman and Santa Claus. Which is not really a good feeling, because it puts me over them in a weird way. One minute, we are loading block together, the next they worship me, the next we are all playing and having fun together. It's like that feeling when your kids open presents from you on Christmas, times 100 and with added dehumanization. They have become objects to make me feel good about myself, and I have become a dispensary of arbitrary gifts to those I deem worthy. It is hard.
People are always trying to get something from you, because you have something and they have nothing. It is dehumanizing, but understandable. That's what I thought was happening when Pastor Davide called the American ("blan", yes even my African American brother Ernest is called "white" here) pastors together. I thought he would ask us for something. He did. It was our prayers. He wanted to pray together. He wanted to pray for his people to get a place for worship; for our people to come alongside them in their need; for the Gospel to spread in Haiti; for the Gospel to spread in SC. We prayed and we committed to continue praying for one another.
The last two days we have been on the worksite for the church, shoveling dirt and rocks to make concrete, twisting and fastening steel tie bars, and hauling blocks. The work is hard, hot, and sweaty. The Haitian unskilled workers are volunteers building their own church. It reminds me of Genesis 2:7 " the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being." We are literally forming this building from dust, sand, rocks, and cement, bound together and shaped with precision by master masons into a building for worship and community activity. So we construct a building, and God will breathe into it the breath of life to be a living being in this community. The churches we have visited so far double as orphanages, feeding centers, and recreation centers. There will be a living, breathing body of Christ in this building, seeking to love God, love their neighbors, and thereby spread the Gospel to all those around. Let us all be in prayer for the churches of Haiti.
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