I
am often asked the question “What is the hardest part about living and working
in Haiti?”
The
truth is, there are a LOT of hard things about life in Haiti.
The
heat.
The
language.
The
home-sickness.
The
cultural barriers.
The
fact that everything takes twice as long.
The
heat.
The
line at the bank.
The
market.
Did
I mention the heat?
It’s
true, these things can make daily life quite challenging. But none of these things are how I respond to
that question. None of these things even
come close to the HARDEST part about Haiti.
For me, the
hardest part about Haiti is the orphans.
Tonight,
my heart is burdened with the weight of that hardship. Because tonight, there is a little boy in
tears with a heart full of loneliness and longing because he has been rejected
yet again. There is a girl who wants
nothing more than the touch of her mother…a mother who abandoned her two years
ago. There is a child sleeping in the
street under the light of the stars. No
home. No family.
When
I think of these kids, my heart shatters into a million pieces.
I
can’t tell you exactly what the purpose of this blog post is, other than to
simply say that my heart is weary and hurting from being broken over and over
again by these stories, these faces, these tears.
I
wish I could change the world for these kids, but all I can do is wrap my arms
around them and tell them that they are loved and valued. Tell them that God has not forgotten them. Tell them that they are complete in Him.
Recently,
I came across this verse.
And if you give
yourself to the hungry
And satisfy the
desire of the afflicted,
Then your light
will rise in darkness
And your gloom
will become like midday
And the Lord will
continually guide you,
And satisfy your
desire in scorched places,
And give strength
to your bones…
-Isaiah 58:10-11
What
a beautiful reminder of my call here in Haiti.
My call is simply this: To give
myself to the orphans. To give them the love
and attention and care they desire. And in doing so,
God’s light will shine in this dark place.
His Truth will light up their desperate situations.
No,
that doesn’t make my job easy. But there
is also a beautiful promise for my weary heart.
If I am faithful to serve the afflicted,
God with guide me and strengthen me. He
called me to a difficult job, but He didn’t call me to do it alone.
