Haitian Strength Poem

I guess I’m a poet. ~

Haitian Strength

 

I don’t know how people live after destruction,

How one could rise through the constant construction. 

 

Children abandoned due to disabilities, my heart breaks even though they’re happy.

 

They just smile and reach for hugs and don’t reject one ounce of love. 

 

Meanwhile I complain about days that melt my shoes and missing home – oh the blues.

 

And here lies the bluest sea. The bluest sea I ever saw, lost in rubbish – a minor flaw. 

 

Water water everywhere but no clean drop to drink. But Haitian people are stronger than you think.

 

Helped by missions far and wide, but not enough to lose their pride. 

 

They build their lives up brick by brick and quite literally they just don’t quit. 

 

They grow old and still want to dance and take on every little chance.

 

Take a chance to be someone strong, because positivity is never wrong.

 

This month could go in many directions, but hey it’s nothing, I got God’s protection.

 

---

 

 

As you can probably guess by the poem, this month has a variety of different ministry opportunities. We hold kids clubs, visit a special needs orphanage, visit elderly care homes, help with house construction, and evangelize. Everyday is something new and challenging and grand.

 

Here’s a quick story about our first day doing evangelism in Haiti. It is always a bit of a learning curve for each country and culture because everything changes. You have to regroup with your team and figure out the best strategies – so to speak. How the interpreters operate, what areas of the city to target, who to approach, who will speak, etc.. Today went pretty smoothly as our translator was ready to go and just introduced us to everyone we passed. Sometimes people would even just approach us because they overheard a conversation. We ended up following two women up the hill to fill their 5 gallon buckets with water for their home. On the hike up, some of the girls were asking questions about what the women believed and some later voiced they didn’t get very much info about it. When we were about to part ways the girls wanted to pray for the women about their relationships with God. Because I missed the previous conversations I first asked if they understood it and then explained what we meant by a relationship. I don’t really know what I said, but I asked if they wanted that for their lives and saw a third women beaming on the outskirts of our group. I asked her the same question to which she so readily said yes. I tried to get out of leading the salvation prayer by getting the translator to do it, but of course he “let” me do it. (I later shared that I don’t even like evangelising. That confused people. They gave me compliments and encouragement I didn’t want to hear.)