Water

How can one write about these things? How does one pull himself away from the devastation, recollect his thoughts, and write objectively about what he's seen today? I was surrounded by extreme poverty, illness, disaster, trauma, homelessness, despair, hunger, thirst… When do I stop the list? This young girl, all by herself on this dangerous street, warily drains water from a tap that is not clean. But that's all she has. I met pastors who struggle not only with hungry, thirsty and sick parishioners, but with profound emotional and spiritual upheaval in their members. My experience as a pastor fades in comparison to such hardships endured by heroic men and women who have nothing but stones and fallen cinderblocks to hammer into gravel for concrete. Most of one pastor's congregation is tented around the church, along with a clinic manned by a doctor without a nurse or medications... just his hands and a stethoscope with an ocean of compassion. The orphanage tore my heart out. I fell in love with every one of the kids I met. The team could tell that the children were loved. They seemed secure, confident and happy. The ones who ran it, a doctor and his wife, are heroes, sacrificially and willingly making themselves responsible for 126 children. What impressed itself upon me the most is the injustice of this world. We hear a lot of questions being asked about who can be trusted here in Haiti with supplies and money. Or will the recipients use it for their own personal gain or for the betterment of their own structures? But as these questions are being asked, I'm painfully aware that we could be asked the very same questions in North America. We have people in need right next door. Are we being good stewards of the funds we receive? The incredible imbalance in the world is overwhelming. The corruption runs deep and wide. But doesn't it where we live too, only in a more respectable manner? Couldn't the Haitians, right now, turn the tables around and ask us, "Who of you can be trusted with the money and supplies that you receive? Or will you use it for your own personal gain and the security of your own structures? You thirsted and received a surplus of water. Now we thirst." I've got more photos up here. If you want to help, go here.
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