Beauty Instead of Ashes

Confusion.  Chaos.  Panic.
People are shouting, crying, wailing.
Dust and smoke fill the air.
Dead bodies everywhere.

January 12, 2010. Port-au-Prince

It was a day of devastation and destruction for everyone who lived in Haiti's capital when an earthquake of 7.0 magnitude hit the city.  Homes, businesses, and lives were completely obliterated and people who already had very little were left with literally nothing.

Confusion.  Chaos.  Panic.

That's when 10-year-old Josie was dropped off at the bus station by her only remaining family.  Abandoned.  Alone.

She didn't know anyone else on the crowded bus except her little brother, who was now in her care.  At that moment, there was only one thing Josie knew for sure: everything was about to change.

The bus began it's long trek through the mountains of Haiti, leaving behind the chaos in the streets.  But the chaos in Josie's heart remained.  What would happen to her and her brother?  Who would take care of them?  Where would they live?  What would they eat?  Who could they trust?

Sick from the tossing and turning of the bus, terrified of the mountain drop-offs, and exhausted from the trauma of the earthquake, Josie somehow made it safely to Cap-Haitian, 7 hours after leaving everything she once knew and loved.

Fast forward 6 years.

Laughter.  Singing.  Joy.

Twelve kids are sitting in a circle around the living room.  16-year-old Josie is one of them.  It's prayer time at the Kids Alive Children's Village and Josie's family - the family that she has come to know and love over the past 6 years - is gathered together to sing praises to their Protector and Provider.  I smile as I listen, cherishing the sound of Josie's beautiful singing voice.

Later, as I sit on the front porch helping Josie with her English homework, she tells me about that fateful day 6 years ago when everything changed.  But despite the chaos, confusion, and pain of the past, Josie is smiling.  She tells me that even though she misses the people she was forced to leave behind in Port-au-Prince, she absolutely loves her family at Kids Alive.  She beams when she tells me about the good grades she is getting in school.

Happiness.  Hope.  Healing.

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted...to comfort all who mourn...to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair..."
Isaiah 61:1-3