I am madly in love with this country!
Naturally, you would now like to know why. Well that is where things get complicated. You see it’s not that easy to explain. In fact, I would say my feelings for this country are in fact indescribable. Or rather, maybe it is just that if I explained it, I’m not sure it would convince you that it was so great. See there were many people on my team and even in my house that were experiencing the same things as me, but even they didn’t always see things the way I did. But alas, I will give it a go anyway. I will attempt to depict the happenings of this month in the best way I know how, by revealing the hearts of the people. For me, Haiti was a time when I saw and felt God in ways I never have before. It was the start of a new way of living; one where God isn't just a part of my life, but where I was challenged to make him the center.
I saw the face of God this month, and it so happened that it was on the head of several different people…
I. The face of God on a man named Xavier.
I can still remember the first day we met. It was a meeting cute (the movie the Holiday anyone) that only God could plan. My team and I were going around door-to-door telling people about the free school our pastor runs, and we wound up at Xavier’s home. Xavier was a man about my parent’s age but his face had aged significantly from worrying so much. He wasn’t a man of fancy clothes but when he flashed his breathtaking smile he lite up the room.
When we walked in to what could best be described as his garage, he was sitting on a metal-framed chair that seemed to have lost its cushions and drapery a long time ago. His cane stood directly beside him on his right, and I could tell that his left arm didn’t move much either. I couldn’t understand a word he was saying at the time because he only spoke Creole, but there was just something about him that captivated me from the moment we met. I couldn’t put it to words then. All I knew is, I wanted to know more.
Xavier’s house was on the way to pretty much everything we needed for our day-to-day lives. We had to go past it in order to get to the market, in order to go to church, in order to go to the school, in order to pick up our translator, and in order to play street soccer with the kids. So I got accustomed to stopping by his garage and making sure I said “Bonjour” or “Bonsoir”(depending on the time of day) every time I passed. My conversation skills with him were extremely limited, to the point where hello and how are you were pretty much all I could manage to say. But that was always more than enough. Day after day we would greet each other and every time I saw him it was as if we hadn’t seen each other for years. He would do this half-lean out of his rusted chair, waving with all his mite, and making sure to keep eye contact with me until I went out of view. He made me feel like I was the most important person in the world with that small gesture, and so I found myself making excuses to pass his house everyday.
On a few occasions, I was lucky enough to have our translator with me to help me converse with Xavier. But as he translated, I realized I already knew all the important stuff. Without words I could feel Xavier’s love for me. I knew that, like me, he eagerly waited for that special part of the day when we would get to say hello to one another. I could see it in his smile and the way his face lite up when our eyes would meet. I had become one of the best parts of this man’s day and let me tell you, I did nothing to deserve it. Sounds a lot like God, doesn’t it? I was important, just because I existed. Like God, Xavier and I had developed a relationship filled with magical moments but often our exchanges were not filled with words. However that didn’t mean we knew each other any less. I knew that Xavier had gotten a stroke and had been out of work for months because of it. He stressed about how he could provide for his family when his body simply wouldn’t allow him to weld anymore. It took all of his energy just to go to physical therapy, but through it all he kept faith. How cool is it that I got to see God in the flesh through Xavier? God is so good!
II. The face of God on a baby named Isaac.
[Anatolina and her son Isaac]
At the beginning of the second week here in Haiti the girls on my team named a baby. Yes you heard me right. They gave a two-month old his name, and from that day on he will always be known as Isaac. (You might be wondering why I was not a part of this miraculous moment…I was out grocery shopping for my team…. but don’t get sad, I come into the story a little later). You may also be curious about why my girls would be chosen for such a big honor as naming a person. Well tragically, the death rate in childhood here in Haiti is 1 in 47, so Anatolina, the baby’s mother, feared that her baby was not going to live past infancy (mainly because of malnourishment). Since it is so common for babies to die here, mothers often wait until they reach their first birth date to name them. In the case of baby Isaac, Anatolina actually tried giving her son away to the girls on my team. Out of desperation and a hope for his survival, she was willing to give up her son in order that he might live. But my girls knew that this was a child of God and that He would make a way for this baby to survive, be fed, and know the love of Christ, so he was named that day and officially claimed as her son.
When I got home, the girls told me all about this perfect child and I was smitten. I had to meet him. And not too long after that, I did. He was flawless. As I held him in my arms, I fell deeper and deeper in love with him. He had a perfect button nose, a smile that could kill, and aura about him that compelled you to want to take him as your own forever. (As you can tell, Anatolina’s offer was rather tempting). Not once did I hear this baby cry, and I saw him all hours of the day and night. He was our little brother and our love for him was overwhelming.
In fact, I had never seen a child more loved than this one. His mother’s affection alone would be enough to last a lifetime, not to mention the fact that when their family came to church the entire congregation lined up for a chance to hold Isaac. He was the essence of love. When he was in a room you couldn’t help but feel it, and he attracted it like a pig to mud. How great must have been Anatolina’s love that she was willing to give up her beloved son? A story I’ve heard many times before for a baby named Jesus. But our God is so good. He didn’t want heartache for his daughter or his son. He wanted to use them as blessings to one another and man am I glad we got to watch that happen. Baby Isaac is a child of God that will make believers of the nations and it’s so cool that we can now say, we knew him when.
