I Can't Forget Haiti

by Bob Setzer
Our first night at the mission compound in Haiti, a smiling Haitian pastor told us, "You will leave Haiti, but Haiti will never leave you!" So far, his prophecy has proved true.

I can't forget the beautiful, neatly-dressed children singing and chanting their way through the school day. They live in a gray, barren world of dirt and crumbling concrete yet they are joyous and cheerful in a way most more affluent Americans are not.

I can't forget the wiry, trim, hard-working Haitians who labored beside us building concrete posts and laying block. One was a sixty-five-year-old man, always smiling, who shoveled rock and dirt at a manic pace. When everyone else rested, Gibray's shovel never stopped. A profoundly spiritual man, his passionate prayer for our team when we parted brought tears to every eye.

I can't forget the heartsick mothers who showed up at our medical clinic with wailing babies in their arms. Some of those babies were in agony over ear infections that the simplest of antibiotics could (and did) knock out. Yet such mothers and other sufferers waited quietly and without complaint, until they could be helped.

Haiti was a study in contrasts: bone-crushing, mind-numbing poverty and yet a remarkably optimistic and resilient people; children, squealing with delight while playing soccer on a packed-earth, gravel-strewn lot with net-less "goals"; neighborhoods of concrete block hovels, looking like war zones, and beaches of breathtaking Caribbean beauty. During my week in this strange, new world, I found myself alternating between gratitude and awe at the Haiti people while welling up with sadness at their hardscrabble life.

In the midst of the devastation and ruin, there were oases of hope. These were the churches where people gathered to sing and pray with a fervency of devotion that stirred the heart. Many of those churches, like the ones with whom we partnered, are involved in holistic ministries of education and healing (like Jesus' own!) that can and will make a difference for Haiti's children. By making a difference for the children, Jesus’ people in Haiti are shaping a more hopeful future for the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.

This Sunday in worship, the 16 members of our First Baptist Haiti team will share reflections, slides, and videos of the trip. I look forward to hearing from my fellow pilgrims. Following worship, at the Fat Tuesday Lunch our GAs will continue the Haitian theme and share more heart-stopping video.

Yes, so far the Haitian pastor's prediction has proved true: I have left Haiti, but Haiti has not, will not, leave me.