As the plane circles the city waiting to land, destruction and filth are visible. Tarps and makeshift tents are scattered throughout the countryside, a testimony to the devastation of the earthquake of January 12. As we exit the airport, the stench of rotting garbage, unwashed bodies, human waste and animals mix to form the unpleasant odor that marks every third world country around the globe. Hopelessness, utter despair and desperation mark the faces of the Haitians that spend the day at the airport hoping to earn a few dollars to feed their families. This is the sight that greeted us as we drove through the city. Witnessing the destruction firsthand was heartbreaking. I wasn’t really sure what to expect on the trip to Haiti, but I knew that God would do amazing things and that we would see Him in ways we never had before. He did not fail to amaze me. He allowed all of our luggage to arrive, undamaged; everyone to get on all the flights, despite five people getting placed on standby; and provided the exact team that we needed. Not only that, but we were also able to get all the supplies that we needed, which is almost unheard of in Haiti, even under normal circumstances. God blessed us in so many ways, even allowing us to serve the others on our team and people already in the country.
As many highlights as there were, there were many hardships as well. Emotionally the trip was difficult, seeing all the destruction and how some people weren’t willing to change their lives or didn’t care, broke my heart. I can’t begin to imagine what it must be like to live day to day not knowing where your next meal is going to come from and yet that is how the majority of the Haitians live. As a result of such desperation to survive, families are neglected and nobody is taught to love or receive love. The things that we all took for granted as children are not even offered to the Haitians. Sex is used as recreation because they don’t want to work and they can’t afford to go to school. As a result girls get pregnant as young as 13, but don’t know how to care for their children, let alone wanting them, leaving the next generation as neglected as the one before it. This is the vicious cycle of sin that the people find themselves in and this is what broke my heart the most. God created in me a desire to show the Haitians in the tent cities Jesus’ love for them, that He cares for them, that they don’t have to live life solely to survive, but that they can have joy in knowing Christ. I realize that I am an American idealist and life as a follower of Christ doesn’t make everything a bed of roses, but Christ says that His burden is easy and yoke is light if we take up our cross and follow Him (Luke 9:23,24; Matthew 11:28-30). That is what the Christian life is about, following Christ wherever He leads, no matter how uncomfortable or hard it will be.
