Haiti

This weekend, I had mixed emotions as I entered Haiti for the first time. I had been wanting to visit the country for some time now, but certainly not under these circumstances. I went as part of an eight member team to bring water, food and medicine to Port au Prince in the days following the catastrophic earthquake that hit on Tuesday night.

Many friends and family members contacted me Tuesday and Wednesday to see how I was doing. Thankfully, I, as well as many other people in the Dominican Republic, did not feel the quake, but instead simply felt a dizzy feeling at the time it hit. It still amazes me that though Haiti and the Dominican Republic share the island of Hispanola, the massive destruction was limited to Port au Prince and towns to the West of it. It has not escaped me for one minute that it could have just as easily happened here... that I could be a person caught under rubble or homeless. That my friends could be hurt or dead.

Perhaps because of this I feel even more of a burden to help the neighboring country of Haiti and its suffering people. Wednesday afternoon and evening we began coordinating ways to help in the relief. Thursday I prepared to leave with YWAM on Friday morning and ordering medicine with our clinic staff. For various reasons I was asked to wait and go Saturday with our team. We sent water from our water plant on Thursday with YWAM, who as it turns out did not leave until Saturday either. Thursday we also went to PriceMart and bought food to pack and bring to those in need.

Friday, we ordered more medications to send -- antibiotics, medicines for bronchial infections, alcohol and soap to clean wounds, antibiotic creams, gauzes, tape, etc. Then, I spent the morning helping to pack food into bags. We packed food bags with beans, tuna, ham, corn, granola bars, crackers, fruit cups, chocolate, cereal, milk, juice, soap and toilet paper. We also packed bags with diapers and wipes as well. More preparation followed that afternoon including meetings with those going the next day, buying gasoline to take in case of emergency and packing the trucks. By midnight I had finally finished making the food for our group and prepping my own personal bag to take. We set out at 4 a.m. Saturday towards the Haitian border.

The drive to the border was long and longer because of the anticipation of what might emerge before us on the road into Port au Prince. After 5 hours of driving we finally made it to Jimani, the border town. Crossing into Haiti took about an hour of waiting through traffic of other aid vehicles and negotiating with the border police. What came next was unexpected. I had expected a nearly impassable road and masses of walking wounded streaming towards the border on their way into the Dominican Republic. What I saw instead was a placid, but rising lake, beautiful sandstone clifts and a fairly tranquil country.

This calmness continued for about an hour of our drive into Haiti. We passed people on the side of the road who appeared to have food and water and the few buildings in the pastoral countryside seemed to have no damage. The road stretched on into a more urban area and we began to see signs of the earthquake in crumbling buildings, cracked walls and floods of people in the streets. UN vehicles, Medicins Sans Frontiers, Salvation Army Emergency Relief and other international aid organizations were all present on the road, a clear sign we were getting close to Port au Prince. Next we passed the UN base and then the airport. There were makeshift "camps" in every open space where people were living out in the hot sun, many without even the protection of plastic sheeting or tarps to shield them from the heat of day. These camps represent the lives of hundreds of thousands of people that steadily streamed past us on the street.

At one point we turned on to a street that was deserted of all other vehicles. The walls of every building crumbling around hundreds of people fleeing Port au Prince and the destruction that the earthquake left behind. In this street I saw the ruins of the capital city. The city that is no more. In this street I saw utter desperation and the triumph of the will to survive and the mercy of God over the raw movement of nature. This is what the world has been observing. The pictures of desperation, of death and of destruction.

Despite what we see, we know that the Lord has a plan for all things. And that out of everything He can create something good. Because of the Lord I have hope. Hope for Haiti and hope for all people. Saturday was a day of miracles. I expected to find a completely broken and desperate people, violent and riotous from hunger and dehydration. I encountered a broken people, but despite their brokenness, they did not allow their tragedy to affect their humanity.

When we distributed food and water, the people stood rather calmly in lines to receive the aid that we had brought. Some passed by the car and shouted, "God bless you!" and "Thank you so much!" to me in English.

Truly I have hope for the people of Haiti. There I see that the Lord has a plan to rebuild what was once of man for His glory. A city of hope and a people of God. The people of Haiti are strong, caring and kind. And God loves them more than any of us every could. And so while I will do my best to help Haiti and Haitians in anyway that I can, I know that my efforts are not too small nor in vain because the Lord is working in Haiti. Saturday, He allowed us to be a part of His work there in order that our faith might increase.

Remember Haiti in your prayers. Remember a people who are broken and hurting. A people who can use your help at this time of need. But do not be discouraged, take hope in the work that the Lord is doing there.

God bless,
Anna