Malgre Toot

When I first got to Haiti, I was a little worried. Worried that I wasn’t going to be as impacted as last time. I struggled with trying to force myself to look at things with new eyes. But as hard as I tried everything still looked the same. The rubble is still here, the streets are still littered with trash, the airport is still crazy, and the joyful faces of the Haitian people are still betrayed by the sadness hidden in their eyes. I was distraught. How can nothing have changed over 3 months? I had hoped that surely someone had tried to change something. No. Everything was the same.

But today God showed me how foolish I was to judge what I was seeing so quickly. As we drove into Chambrun, my jaw dropped. A total of 4 new buildings, have been put up and 3 more are following quickly. The Nehemiah Campus looks like a completely different place.

We were soon seated in small benches that are angled 90°, and happen to be completely uncomfortable. So as we sat in our benches surrounded by scores of children, we listened to Pastor Pierre speak and sing for 3 hours. Sorry Grace staff, but I have never been to a more powerful church service. Pastor spoke about how the Haitian people are still here “malgre toot” or in spite of everything. They can’t just call 911 when cholera breaks out of a hurricane called Tomas heads directly for them. They have to call on God. He’s their only hope. I stared in rapt silence as Pastor spoke, so inspired by his words.  I realized the Haitians sitting around me were, some of the most amazing Christians I’ve had the privilege to meet. Malgre toot, they are still standing. Stronger than ever. The hope that soared inside of me was such an amazing feeling.

What we saw next was a complete contrast to the hope and joy we saw in Chambrun. As we drove through Port Au Prince our hearts broke. All the joy in the eyes of the people was gone. The dwellers of downtown had become comfortable in the squalor of tent cities they were living in. They don’t have the energy (or if they do they don’t want to use it) to return to their old lives, content to live in the mundane ones they presently find themselves in.

One of the team members named Kelsea spoke about how she tried so hard to find God in Port Au Prince. He was so easy to see in Chambrun, but stubbornly elusive downtown.  She told us that she realized that by not being able to find God, it was clear to her how much we need him.

Things in Haiti haven’t changed, yet things in Haiti have changed.  God is here, and his people are rising up. They are taking the reigns and leading the people of Haiti into a new day…