REV BEV SAYS...
Remembering Never To Forget
The images from Haiti in the last week have been haunting. They take me back to two weeks in the mid-90‘s when I was there along with four students from my church.
My first impression of Port-au-Prince was that it was ?too big a mess to clean up?. ?Where do we begin?? I thought as we drove up the dark streets that first night… the dust and garbage, the crowded mass of humanity, the miles of concrete buildings, half finished or half torn down (I couldn‘t tell). I entertained the notion that maybe it would be better to bull-doze this place and start over somewhere fresh. The bitter taste of despair hit me hard.
The next day we emerged from our guest house into the light and met, among the shabby streets, the barbed-wire, and the piles of garbage, the most beautiful groups of children, all proudly wearing their immaculate school uniforms with backpacks of treasured books and supplies slung across their shoulders. They stared at us, pale sweaty foreigners, and flashed their beautiful grins. Given the chance, they all wanted to hug and kiss us, and giggle at our pitiful attempts to communicate in French. I was charmed, and knew then that I had to be part of the mission to save those children and their country.
These children and their parents live with a steady diet of that despair of which only a taste choked me. Missionaries spend their lives in this place trying to make any difference. I vowed then to be one who would never forget Haiti. But I have not been back. Until this week, I thought of Haiti a few times a year, maybe when writing a check to help.
They needed so much in Haiti. Now they need everything. We will not soon be able to put the images out of our heads, and that is the good which will come from this awful time. A bright light has shined on the need of Haiti, and the whole world is seeing and responding.
Oh Lord,
Don’t let us forget. As we are surrounded by images of suffering,
“melt us, mold us, fill us, use us.”
Amen.
