Haiti - Day One

Day one in Haiti was unreal.

We landed in Port Au Prince in mid day heat. After waiting in the sweltering tin shed called "customs," we fought our way through the crowd of beggars, street children and excited Haitian families. We loaded everything into the flamboyantly colored, open top truck lovingly referred to as the "mountain goat." Bumping, slamming and weaving our way through town, the enormity of the poverty overwhelmed me.

This place is unlike anything I have ever seen. The entire city is just a changing shade of brown. The downtown area is crowded with people carrying large baskets on their heads, peddlers, fruit stands, weaving motorcycles and old trucks that pour toxic black smoke from their exhaust. Goats and stray dogs dig snout first through the piles of trash that sit on almost every corner. There is no order, but nobody seems to mind.

It seems random to me why certain buildings stand and why others are a pile of concrete crumbled on the ground. The houses that remain sit empty, a hollow shell of what used to be considered thriving life here. The tent cities are everywhere. Clusters of blue and white tarps flapping in the wind, held together by twine and twigs. I can only think of how quickly these will disintegrate when hurricane season approaches and sends its furious winds and relentless rain. The tent cities swarm with children in tattered clothes. Every child we pass smiles shyly and waves. Their dark brown skin is lustrous and exotic, the whites of their eyes and teeth radiate.

We drove to a church in Delmas 31. Immediately and awkwardly we were ushered to the front pew. The "church" was merely a quilt of tarps strung between two buildings, a large wooden table, folding chairs for the pastor, and a drum set. As the pastor preached with fierce emotion, I glanced around to see the eyes staring blankly at us. Nearing the end of the service, the congregation began to sing - words I couldn't understand but a song I knew in my heart. The beautiful choir of voices young and old filled the humble church. The passion and emotion was overwhelming. I fought back tears in my eyes as I watched God's most faithful praise him with their whole hearts. Amid this tragedy, brokenness and desperation, there is God. God is in this place and with his people. It is truly the most beautiful thing to experience.

We spent the rest of the day touring the city to see the extent of the earthquake's damage. It will truly take an act of God to restore life here in Haiti. We concluded the night with devotional on the roof top. Basking in the brightness of the full moon, we prayed - prayed for unity and strength and for God to protect us and guide us.