When I we first arrived in Haiti, I was expecting to see extreme poverty, eat basic foods, and sleep on concrete floors. Though this is the case for a lot of people that come to Haiti it was not for my team and me.
Instead, we stayed in a nice place, and rode in nice cars and ate good food and visited with doctors, policemen and commissioners.
It was the complete opposite of what I was expecting. Especially having travelled for so many months around the world I expected Haiti to be one of the “rougher” months. Instead it ended up being one of the nicest facilities we stayed in since we have been gone.
At first this came as a shock, but as the days went by I realized a very great opportunity that God had given us.
As I was eating breakfast with the Police Commissioner one morning, a good friend of our ministry host, a truth came to mind,
“I didn’t come for the healthy but the sick ”
When Jesus said those words, he was being judged by the religious people for eating with sinners and being around people of bad morals. He ministered to the tax collectors, prostitutes and people who knew of their unworthiness.
I think as Christians it can be easy to condemn the corrupt, the greedy and those that take advantage of people. We are often quick to judge who should be ministered to and in the back of our minds we consider some people unworthy to receive Christ more than others. But that happens when we forget what God has saved us from and when we think that we are better than other people and have more right to God’s grace than someone else. That whole idea is ludicrous.
When Jesus said that He came for the sick and not for the healthy, he was not saying that there are people who are less sick than others rather he was telling them that salvation is for those that recognize that they are sick and a sinner. We are not supposed to wait for someone to stop doing wrong before sharing the gospel with them, no the gospel meets us where we are at in our sin and offers unconditional grace for those that are willing to receive it, exchanging our sin and corruption for the righteousness of Jesus. The gospel isn’t for good people; it is for those who have spat in the face of God, for the rebellious, and the perverted.
And as missionaries, we are not only sent out to bring relief and the gospel to those who are hurting but we are also sent out to bring the Gospel to the liars, the thieves, the murderers, the adulterers and the greedy so that they may be saved and know the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe.
The only way Haiti will ever come out of the place it stands is when salvation comes to the corrupt, leaders and people of authority.
When we think of Haiti most of us think of poverty and people in need and bringing relief. There have been many missionaries that have come to Haiti after the earthquake and even before that that they have done great work bringing relief and healing to so many hurting.
But the biggest problem in Haiti right now is the corruption that has infiltrated many levels of authority.
But what if like Zacchaeus, people said “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” Then we could see a revival take place and Haiti could help Haiti and we wouldn’t need to bring in aid.
And so this month in Haiti, God reminded me of an important truth and He allowed my team and me to be able to encourage those in leadership who have contact and influence among those in power in Haiti, that they may be Jesus to those in power and bringing revival in Haiti.
