Haiti will get to you—body and mind.
First, it is so hot you are always sweating. You cannot escape the heat. It pulls minerals out of your body—minerals you cannot replace on the rice and beans diet. Your body starts to fail you in small ways.
Next is your mind. Each time you go out into the street, small children approach you. Their ribs are showing. They beg for your water bottle or the meal bar they know you have in your backpack. But behind them are 10 other children watching. If you give to one, you will be mobbed in seconds. So you say, “No,” and walk away. Each day. It wears on your mind.
All you have left is the spiritual. If God fails you, you have no hope. So you cling to God—His Love, His Will, His Plan…
That was about where I was physically, mentally, and spiritually when I rode in the back of a pickup truck halfway up a mountain in Haiti. From there, we hiked up to a row of grass and tarp huts. It was a “village” of 50 people who needed medical care. We brought two nurses, vitamins, medical supplies, food, and water. The people lined up to see the nurses. This was going to take some time.
I took a few photos, but the sun was so hot. I needed to sit down before my legs failed me. There was no shade. All I saw was a thorn tree—a low bush actually. I was so desperate, I sat down and pushed my back up under the thorn branches. It hurt, but the sun was worse. A young boy was done with his treatment of vitamin D and de-worming meds. He came and sat beside me.
In Haiti, the kids were fascinated by our white skin. This boy was no exception. He held my hand, stroked it, and even peered closely at the skin. Most of all, he would not let go. We were attached from that point on. It was sweet.
After the nurses saw everyone in the village, the Haitians wanted to take a group photo. Then it was time to go.
I realized that I had not even asked the boy his name! So I finally did. My faithful companion’s name—Emmanuel. Tears formed in my eyes. “Yes, Lord, I get it.”
My body was suffering, my mind was reeling from all I saw, but on the top of a mountain, there was “Emmanuel.” God is with us.
That was last May. I am back in the USA. My body is healed from the stress of Haiti. My mind has mostly recovered from the sadness I saw. It is so easy for us to rely on all we have and all we can do ourselves rather than rely on God.
But I do not want to forget that lesson—Emmanuel. God is with us—in our jobs, our families, our rest, our health, our plans, even in our hurts and sorrows.
God is with you! Happy New Year!
And thank you for joining with me to help kids like Emmanuel. He needed us that day, too.
