November 16, 2008

I have been thinking a lot about faith recently, and what it really means. I know "faith is the evidence of things unseen" and other definitions but I am thinking about what that REALLY means to me personally. Life in Haiti will make you think, and for me that can be a painful process! There are so many situations that you see that make you question, well, pretty much everything about what you believe. It seems to me that "faith" in some regards will develop as a thought and a concept within the context of your culture. In the US, "faith" seems to me to be a prepackaged after the fact thing. Please understand I do not mean for all, but I think this is it for many. We have faith in what has already been done, if you understand what I mean. We live in a place of prosperity and relative peace and life is really pretty easy compared to most of the rest of the world. When we come to church and the pastor speaks of faith, it is relatively easy to say to ourself "yeah, God has been good to the US, I can have faith in that". We see the circumstances around us and can believe in what God has done and it is easy to believe in that, and then to live in the consequences of that previously offered grace and blessing. We have some view for the future but based on what we have seen in the past (meaning the past few years of our own lives) we trust God to continue to do His good work for us.

When I came here, faith became a different proposition. You see things you don't see in the states. You see people in cicumstances that just don't exist for the most part in the US. It makes me think about what faith is for these people, or if they even think of faith as something to consider. I wonder how we in the US would respond to the teaching of our pastors if we lived in the circumstances that so many of the people in Haiti. The people here seem, to me at least, to live their lives day to day, even hour to hour, with no plan or attempt to accomodate their future. In some ways the attitude is likely more healthy for them as opposed to our constant worrying about virtually everything. It seems we have taken that part of life to an extreme, and to our detriment. The Haitians have taken the opposite approach it seems, and to the same extreme we have taken our worry and concern and planning for our cicumstances, many Haitians seem to have adopted the what will be, will be approach. There is some planning of course, but it does not seem to be extensive. Please don't think I am saying that no Haitians ever plan anything and just sit around all day. What I am trying to say is that their planning seems to be concerned with the next few days, at most. Long term planning for development doesn't seem to be an important issue for most people. So you wind up with schools that aren't engineered for permanence, and the results can be catastrophic. For many people it seems like their lives are engineered the same way. The local circumstances lend themselves to this, as for many the struggle is to stay alive day to day. However there are those who are successful and run businesses obviously. These folks obviously must plan for more than day to day. The street people are the ones I speak of. And I don't know if I would be any different, honestly. So circumstances lead us to change our focus I guess.

Returning to our faith question, then how easy is it to see and believe and trust in the unseen God? If God won't provide what I need NOW why should I trust him? If this God won't give me what I want now I'll seek it elsewhere. Gary asked his Bible study class what happens when people pray to God for something and then don't get it. The answer was that they go to the witch doctors. The immediacy of the issues overwhelms the trust in God. For those who believe, then the question is how to overcome the lack of trust to get to the point where we develop faith? Or maybe it is to instill faith so that trust will grow? Either way, missionaries here seem to have had little impact in doing that specific thing and I don't pretent to have any answers. Humanitarian missions have a much easier task. It is not hard to find physical needs here to respond to. The spiritual missions have an infinitely more difficult task, and one that it seems must be seperate from the humanitarian issue. Any time you mix the spiritual with the humanitarian, the Haitian will see only the humanitarian, it seems. They are focused on living and their things to the point that the spiritual focus is lost. Unfortunately, it reminds me of home so much. How can we have true faith for what God will do for us if we are only focused on the current benefits of past blessings, or the immediacy of our current needs as we see them. It seems that both those well off and those not so well off fall in to the same category of lacking a vision for the future. The Bible says that w/o a vision the people will die. So maybe we are more alike that we seem. We lose sight of the amazing things that God wants to do for us as we reduce Him to keeping us where we are (US) or in just meeting basic needs (Haiti). It seems that our human condition lends itself perfectly to losing sight of God regardless of circumstances. How can we learn to really trust in who God is if we are unwilling to step out to that undefined place of real faith, walking that high wire w/o a net, if our vision is only in keeping ourself where we are, or limit Him to just today? Jeremiah, Ezekiel and other OT prophets condemned Israel for their trust in their riches and their stuff. Recall when Jesus said to the rich man all he had to do to have eternal life was to give up his wealth and give to the poor. The rich man went away sad as he could not part with his stuff. Or likewise how can Haitians see God for who He is if all they focus on is now? In Hebrews 12 it says to make sure you are not godless or immoral like Esau who traded his birthright for a single meal, which is what I see in Haiti.

In Hebrews 11-12 it speaks of those of faith who lived for God. The writer speaks of those who overthrew kingdoms, rules with justice, shut the mouths of lions, and were strong in battle. Their weaknesses were turned to strengths (H 11:34). That is the kind of faith in what can be that I am talking about. They had weaknesses they could not trust in their immediate condition but God make them more than they could be alone, without Him. Immediately after this it recites those who trusted God also but were tortured, mocked, ridiculed, beaten, oppressed and mistreated, often martyred. They were too good for this world. So the walk of faith does not seem to me to be about effecting our circumstances, but about our faith regardless of the circumstances. The faith is not in how we are blessed but in who God is, and in trusting in Him.

"Enter by the narrow gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it" Matthew 7: 13/14. I guess this means more to me now that it did before. Coming to Haiti I thought I could help change some things. I guess I am the one being changed more than anything else. bye for now.

November 14, 2008

have had some requests for "living conditions" posts. so, here goes. I am sitting here on the "porch" here on the 2nd floor listening to the goats and sheeps as they walk the street with the people. the pigs generally don't congregate in the street, but stay in the garbage pile about a hundred feet away. people pile their garbage there and every now and then someone drops a match. the people who live behind the garbage pile...well, I'm glad I don't live there. this is a view up the street from the school area to the house. Jessica is walking Rony to the house. The ambulance is a curious thing. it was purchased by our neighbor Albert, one of the undertakers in town. and it sat there for months before he got it fixed and now it sits again. to each his own I guess! the garbage pile is just to the left of the ambulance. Oh, the garbage pile we BURN is to the left. To the right is the garbage pile that, well, is just a pile. I guess there are rules for this but I don't know what they are yet. the next pic is a shot of the outside of the house we live. the tangled mess in the front is razor wire, but it is old and rusty and not really very razory, if you know what I mean. spider webs abound around the wire. the upstairs is the outdoor porch where we sit and peruse the Haitian culture. when everything is going, the air can be quite lousy. we are some distance from the main roads, but the diesel smoke, garbage fires, cooking fires, animals, thousands of small motorcycles that serve as taxi's, make it a unique place! Unique enough to be quite like the rest of Haiti!. we have running water which is a blessing. the electricity is becoming more of an iffy proposition. the inverter and battery storage is acting up. the batteries are discharging very quickly, and 7 have already been replaced this year at cost of about $1000 US. and it appears there may need to be more replaced. Gary is thinking as the money is not in the budget. But as all real Haitians do... :)..... we get by and know things will work out. the house is actually not bad at all. we have a fridge AND freezer and fans to sleep with and of course, computers. so we are not exactly David Brainerd travelling to India in the 1790's but it is not the US. whoa, a herd of goats just went by. Lately we have had irregularly a platoon of UN soldiers come by jogging for conditioning I guess. they always have at least 6 with weapons, one on each corner, two in the middle on each side of the group. we wave of course. it is a policy here to wave and smile to those with guns. I don't see shotguns and such hardly any at all anymore in the general population. the first trips it was regular to see a third of the men on the street with a weapon, gun or machete, here or in Mountrois. much better now! Well, there is s start. I'll post more this weekend and you'll have a better "picture" of my life in Haiti. bye for now

November 12, 2008

This is Rony. She is staying with us tonight, Her situation has gone from bad to worse, but we hope and pray it will be temporary. Unfortunately,we have no cures for all the ills here. Often what you can do goes from day to day. She is still smiling though, and that pleases us all. My information tells me that Rony will be difficult to adopt. The process will be 2-3 years, cost minimum $10,000 US, and there is no guarantee the government will let her leave. So please pray for her that all things will work out as best they can. Thank you all.

November 9, 2008

went to Clean Water for Haiti, Chris and Leslie Rollings ministry today for mission meeting. They had a pair of short term missionaries there gathering info to take back to their church for fund raising and prayer. Earl and Ron seemed very nice guys. Hurricane Paloma was in Cuba last night and today, and the shore line at Clean Water had waves I have not seen there before, big crashing waves. last night the waves came up so high it brought sand into their yard. a few houses down from them their are some well off folks that have....had....a big power boat. the waves last night apparently grounded the boat, flipped it over and they had to have it hauled away for repair today. listening to the waves actually was quite pleasant for me though, as we sang and worshipped. it reminded me of Florida and the teenagers and how peaceful that beach was at night. so it was a very enjoyable time. Chris met everyone at the door and said "did you hear about yesterday?". and we looked at each other and said, "no". then he said, "oh, well, Leslie is pregnant". and APPARENTLY they had agreed to tell everyone when we were all seated together. Leslie was slightly miffed about being cut out of the news cycle, but she took it gracefully. so congratulations to Chris and Leslie Rollings! they have adoptive daughter Olivia, and another on the way. good thing they're young..... :) then on the ride home, Haiti set me back in my place. as we were coming down the road for the turn up the hill to the house here, a group of young males saw the truck and shouted out a.....greeting, sort of. and as I was the only one in the back of the truck, I smiled and waved. which prompted them to....greet me some more. I can laugh this stuff off now, though it does make me cautious about being on the street. just have to watch your step here. hope all is well with everyone at home. pray if you will that it will get warm about Dec 17th or so and stay that way until, say Jan 7th or so. much appreciated! bye for now

Rony

I am looking now for a picture of this little girl from school. Caroline says she has one but can't find it now. I will get one next week if need be to post here. Rony is her name. She is about 10, maybe 12. There is no birth certificate. She is a very sweet girl, smart...and in need of a home. I hesitate to put this out but it has been on my heart all week, I feel like I must. Rony lives with an alcoholic father in law, who actually works at the school. He is a fairly decent worker, though there are issues, but is an angry man. That is common here, anger is a huge problem. The life people live leads to frustration and despair and it comes out in feelings of helplessness and lack of control over ones life. I see it and I have been here so few months now. He is...a bad father to Rony. He is physically abusive to her, let's leave it at that. Her mother has other children living in different places in the country, and that is also very common here. She has children by several men, and now has two small boys who live with them. Rony's father in law is their father. The mother is not supportive of Rony in almost any way. some of you may be familiar with the term "restavek". These are children who are basically slaves in their own house. Most are given up by the families they live with to work for relatives or other families who can provide at least food for them. Unfortunately it becomes a very abusive relationship usually, the children are slave labor and are treated very badly. Rony is practically a restavek in he own home. She has to do significant work, does not have adequate shoes (which will be alleviated this week) and her clothes come from the mission here. She receives little more than the 4 day a week lunch at school to eat and it shows. (Fridays is a half day, there is no lunch). I don't know really how to say this, but I fear that if Rony is not adopted by someone her life will take a very sad, tragic turn at some point. She has a wonderful heart, is very sweet and desperately wants someone to love her. it is so obvious in her eyes and her manners.

some of you may be asking "why don't you do something there, make it stop!" and I wish I could. Treatment of children this way is not illegal here and even it it was there is little if any law enforcement for those who can't defend themselves. As we read daily in the Bible (one year reading program) it talks of how innocents were treated in the Old Testament...and the New Testament. these things don't change, people are still people and abuse continues. Haiti reminds me of an Old Testament country. Sadly so. I am asking for prayer for Rony. I am asking for support for her. The mission pays for her clothes and food, for the most part. donations could be made to Touch Ministries, 417 Rebecca St., New Martinsville, WV 26155. If anyone feels led to sponsor her please contact me thru the blog first or at my e mail at dr333joshu@hotmail.com. And I am asking that if anyone feels the want in their own life to adopt a young 3rd world girl to love and care for, I know how to help you. :) Believe it or not, even abusive parents are almost always willing to give up kids for adoption here, as I am told. Adoption is not easy from Haiti, especially when parents are really alive. But it can be done, and is regularly. If you know of anyone who is thinking of adoption, please pray and see if this is something you could present to them as an option. This is a story that is far too common here. Rony is not the only one in need. But she is the one I know of that maybe I can help do something for. thanks for reading. I will post a picture of Rony as soon as possible.

November 8 ,2008

internet access has been very spotty recently. we have had uncharacteristically cloudy days and it messes with the satellite. you have a connection then you don't, so I just gave up for awhile. warm here still, highs each day in the 90's with humidity in thge 70's at best. nights are starting to cool some though, so the early mornings are actually not bad...until the sun comes up over the mountain behind us! warms up quick then. went thru a bout of dehydration, getting over that now. I have learned the importance of salting most everything you eat here. it is needed to retain fluids. so I salt now, and I am feeling better. Jessica had a bout of dengue fever she is getting over. It was a fairly mild bout as dengue goes (as I am told) but she still felt really bad for about a week. and life goes on. school is moving along, kids are doing their best to avoid working, but love recess and lunch. why would I be surprised at that? kids are kids everywhere I guess.

I had not heard about the school collapse in Port until my son Luke told me about it. I pray the kids get out alive. seeing construction practices here I am really AMAZED this type of thing doesn't happen regularly. I am not a construction person, so I can't judge well, but others who know (and some of what we take for common sense) would indicate these things are possible. the concrete blocks used for constuction are very poor quality usually. they are not pressed, they use a bad mixture and the blocks..NEW blocks..can be broken by hand some times when doing finishing work. the construction at the orphanage going on now confirms this. Gary and I went there yesterday to deliver some supplies and Al told me that Joe, the worker from school who has some mason skills, was breaking the blocks by hand to fit in rebar reinforcement. nothing here is square, everything is "eyeballed" and it shows. the rebar is literally what provides most of the support for the buildings. this house we are in was built in the early 90's, I am told. And truth be told it is in not bad shape. but a 20 year old concrete block building with rebar support in the states would be in MUCH better shape. so the next time you c/o the local building codes that run up the costs, think twice. it may be overkill, but it may also save your life.

I have several things to blog on now but I don't want to run them into one long "war and peace" blog, you know, a thousand pages long and after you are done you can't remember anything that was in it! so I will end this now, let everyone know things are going pretty well. I am even picking up a little creole here and there. So I will end this with a request for those that do. "Yo bezwen nou priye". They need our prayer. thanks for reading. bye for now.

Nov 2,2008

greetings to all. haven't been blogging last few days due to a case of dehydration I am still recovering from. I had lost quite a bit of weight the first 2 months here and of course I KNEW it was mostly water weight, but why be concerned? I had been feeling poorly for a couple of weeks and this week it became nausea, dizziness, weakness, etc. after inhaling salt and water for a few days, I am feeling better. I don't use salt hardly at all, and as I would sweat I was losing it w/o replacing it, therefore losing fluids. Not fun. so I take salt daily now, and drink LOTS of water, to the point I really can hardly stand it. Jessica on the other hand is recovering from dengue fever. Rash, sore throat, malaise, recurring fever though in this case it has been pretty mild for what it could have been so we are all grateful for that.

last night it rained hard for a couple of hours, hadn't had that kind of rain since the hurricane's ended. It actually has been rather nice the last few mornings and evenings, things are starting to cool some here. days are still warm, but it certainly makes it easier to sleep which is a real blessing. we now have piped in water!!!!! amazing how those things happen here. Gary bough the plastic pipe, Marco and helpers from school dug a trench thru the street to the other side of the road where the bigger feed pipe is, and a guy from the city comes out and connects it. you shovel dirt over the pipe and voila! water in the house! now, it's kind of yucky water, but it is for dishes, showering, etc. it is clear, it just has a very mineral taste to it and you really don't want to drink it anyway. we still drink bottled water. but it is much cheaper than bringing in a tanker truck to fill the cisterns. and fairly soon, we may have electricity regularly!! seems if you are willing to buy your own transformer (and a group locally is setting this up for the local 8 houses) you can get power pretty much whenever the generators are running instead of when they decide to give it to your area. Living high in Haiti! :) I pray all is well with everyone home, everyone take care, will post more later. bye for now.....