You know the feeling when you’re going through something difficult and there is nothing in your control that can change it?

Maybe you lost a friend or a job. Maybe someone hurt you or a family member. Maybe you were sick or discouraged or depressed. Maybe you couldn’t afford what your family needed. Maybe you couldn’t even picture the change you hoped to see.

Maybe people started offering advice or telling you about something worse they experienced to make you feel a little less validated in your own experience?

Hopefully when you’ve been there, you had at least one friend who bought you a cup of coffee and listened simply to make you feel heard and less alone. I hope they prayed for you and reminded you that God sees you where you are.

Haiti needs those kinds of friends right now. Her people are hurting and mourning the way they wanted their current reality to look.

I know I’m not here to fix it. I can’t. But I can pour some coffee. I can listen and ask questions. I can pray because God holds all we can’t control dear to his heart.

I finished re-reading Kent Annan’s book “Slow Kingdom Coming” last week. One quote stuck out to me, especially as I’ve been fielding lots of questions about the situation in Haiti right now. “From a distance it’s hard to know the truth on the ground. (It’s sometimes hard up close too.)”

The international media hasn’t done justice to the current crisis in Haiti, simplifying and overlooking a complicated matter and sharing exploitative and misleading photos. The reality I’ve experienced is a string of heartbreaking stories and volatility on the streets. The reality is uncertainty each day and people desperate for change.

But amidst the constant unknowns, the Haitian people I know are strong. They are survivors faced again with hardships to survive.

I’ve been blessed to be out and about more than most people here. I’ve been able to see the elders in Cite Soleil most days. Because of Healing Haiti’s staff, I’ve been safely transported between Titanyen and Port Au Prince three times this week.

I’ve been able to hug children and kiss elders and let my friends know that I’m here with them in whatever capacity I can be.

And I’ve been blessed many times in the past several weeks by missionaries and staff members who’ve traveled here from the US to do the same. The encouragement of their presence is a tangible thing that I believe the Haitians around me have felt too.

I’ve felt encouraged, even as I sit in my own reactions to it all. Even as I see suffering that I can’t ease and let myself be burdened by some of the weight of all that has happened here, I am blessed by Haitian coworkers who let me know that they’re here with me too.

I know that many people who read my blog may not have a personal connection to Haiti. But please pray for the people here.

And then do the sacred coffee pouring in your own life by being available to your own friends who are hurting. And let others bless you and pour your coffee. It’s all part of being the body of Christ.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

So, are things back to normal yet? I hear this question a lot living in Haiti. Because I got to go to work today? Because some of the roads are unblocked? Because we got a delivery of diesel and water? Because the school was open for a few days?

It’s impossible to say what normal is. However, it’s been almost two months since I’ve slept in my own apartment. Some of that time has been by choice and other times due to necessity; but travel between Port Au Prince and Titanyen has not been an option for most of that stretch of time.

We have elders with urgent medical needs and a limited capacity to meet them. We live life one day at a time, a half-day at a time, an hour at a time, knowing circumstances can change in an instant.

Things are tough here, and I want to be honest about that. The protests have brought adversity to an already vulnerable population. When the roads are blocked, people can’t get to the market to buy food, the market may or may not be open, and people can’t get to work to make the money they need to buy that food anyway. Prices keep climbing higher as the value of the currency slips lower.

Many people cannot find or afford fuel. When people get sick, there may not be doctors available to treat them. People have been dying preventable deaths because of the inaccessibility of hospital care. There are burning tires and violence in the streets. There is desperation. People are incredibly sad for their own country.

A Haitian friend of mine messaged me one night to let me know they hadn’t been able to have a church meeting due to riots in the area. He usually either translates those meetings for me or takes notes to send me afterward. I replied that I was sad about the riots but praying for their community. His answer caught me off-guard.

“Don’t be sad, because God is good all the time.”

In times like these, it is easy to look at circumstances and feel despair. Still, God has not changed. He is good. Situations do not dictate his goodness.

So, things are tough in Haiti. But, God is so good!

 

As an additional note, we do have short-term teams here with us again. We are serving when and where we can, keeping a close travel radius to the guesthouse. Our staff who can get here safely are happy to be back full-time, and the children in Cite Soleil have been especially thrilled to see teams again!

I’m still eager to get back to Titanyen, but I’m accepting each day that I can only do what I can do, serving where I can and trusting God with all I can’t do. Our staff in Titanyen and Cite Soleil have been doing an amazing job checking in with all the elders we serve and getting them food and medical attention as much as possible.

Please keep Haiti in your prayers.

 

“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.” 1 John 4:16