(I read the following reflection from a man working in Haiti during the 2010 earthquake in a newsletter update from the Methodist church on their Haiti Response Plan.)
"An event of this sort raises some of the most difficult theological questions. Why certain things happen. In certain places. To certain people. Why some live, and why some don't. Each of us around the table weighed in with our own particular perspective and understanding of the experience but in the end Jim summed up his thoughts: "Those of us who lived have a responsibility to do something with our lives."
Now that I have seen what I have seen firsthand and been alongside the suffering of people in Haiti, I cannot ignore it. I cannot be unmoved. I can't go around pretending that things like the clothes I wear, the size of my apartment, or what people think of me is important when I know people that don't have the luxury of these worries; and indeed have far worse things to worry about. I have a responsibility.
A day doesn't go by that I don't wish I was back there. My heart is so full for the children at the new school, all the children that don't get to go to school yet, the restaveks, my friends that have dedicated themselves to the difficult work there, all of the people I've seen and know enduring long, hard suffering. Today my heart is just a little heavier on the 2nd anniversary of the devastating earthquake that killed 220,000 people and left innumerable people without homes. Any sort of recovery has been slow - and that's a very euphemistic way of putting it. Today I am heartbroken for these people, today I am heartbroken that I am not there.
But today I also have hope. Although I have seen immense destruction and suffering, I have also seen perseverance, renewal, and even joy rise up from the rubble left behind by this earthquake. I have seen the Lord at work in this place and because of his presence and undeniable love for his people, we can have hope beyond hope even in the most hopeless of places. Ephesians 3:20 talks about a God who is able to do "immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power at work within us." And I believe that because I've seen him do it. A year ago nobody at Respire Haiti (i.e. only Megan at the time) knew there was going to be a beautiful school built on top of Bellvue mountain that would educate over 300 children (and counting), the majority of whom are restaveks that have never had to opportunity to attend school before. Nobody could've even imagined that would happen. And nobody would have believed it would happen in, oh, just about 7 months. That's God's power at work within us and it is accomplishing more than we ever dreamed.
To have been a part of this is WAY beyond anything I could've asked for or imagined and certainly much better. I may not be down there now, but I am in school getting my Masters in Social Work here in Austin. The things that I'm learning in school are building my skill set to be able to do even more and I'm planning to return to Haiti this summer to work at Respire in a social work capacity.
I would love for you to be a part of my journey! And need you. Please pray for me as I work to set this trip up, please pray for the mission of Respire and for the people of Haiti. And... I'll be needing a bit of money to make this happen, so if you are interested in helping financially, please email me at kdavis822@gmail.com. Thank you for all of your continued love and support, nothing I do is possible without it!
CNN article on Haiti two years after the earthquake: http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/12/world/americas/haiti-two-years-later/index.html?hpt=hp_bn2
Check out www.respirehaiti.org to learn more about Respire Haiti!
