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