A Few Thoughts...

The Caribbean is amazing. I never knew that there were so many shades of blue. The sky and water seem to meet in amazing symphony of radiant blue that plays with the rays of the sun in a way that makes them sparkle. As you look in the distance, the mountains rise in all directions through the haze of the distance. It is hard to believe that the beauty of this place coexists unforgivingly with it's poverty. It is a world of extremes. Beautiful scenery in an amazing location, but with such crippling poverty and lack of industry. Wading through water that was up to our neck, we could still see our feet. I have never been in a sea that is so clear. We could see the jellyfish coming close to us and get out of there way. Impossible to do on the muddy waters I grew up in. We were the only blancs at the beach. In fact, we've been the only whites that I have seen on the trip. We saw UN forces here. The tanks on the street could not be photographed and the helicopters flew of...

Are work here is complete. We moved piles of dirt and sifted piles of sand and the project moved forward. The prostate crowed, the mosquitos bit and the noise of the tap taps and diesel trucks never fade. I feel drawn into a place of new understanding, only to realize that there is so much that I will never understand or know. The last night of the revival was amazing. Asked to preach, I was able to share a message of hope from Colossians. Translated sermons are the best. Although it takes a while to get the timing down, the rhythm and intentionality in every word is like a sifting. Those cultural inclinations that we mistakenly think are part of our lives melt away and only that which is really of God remains. The hope in the people of Carrefour, Haiti can change the world. If people will but realize the immediate and real power that the Holy Spirit can provide in their life through the revelation of who Jesus Christ is and what God has done for them. When our worlds are...

In the Methodist Church of Haiti, the original form of Methodism is still winning people to Christ and transforming their lives. The Methodist Church here is still based on classes. Lay people, not clergy, provide most of the leadership in the church. A class, of which there are seven at the Methodist Church of Carrefour, meet weekly. If tomorrow, you wanted to become a Methodist. The first thing that you would do is join a class meeting, The class meeting is where you come to Christ and become a Methodist. At your first class meeting, you dedicate your life to Jesus Christ. At the second class meeting, you have begun your studies for baptism. Yes, studies. You take between two to three months to be trained in the ways of the Christian faith. There are no altar call Christians in Haiti. Actually, the revival and altar call are important parts of of the Methodist experience in Haiti. But, in Haiti once you give your life to Christ you are not left as easy prey for Satan. ...

We spent the day sifting rocks, pebbles, and sand for concrete. Melting in the sauna like conditions, each of us took turns sifting through the dirt. Rocks are everywhere in Haiti, but we had special loads trucked in for us to sift. One group was sifting through the coarser sand, getting the rocks out of the sand and pebbles. The next group then sorted the sand from the pebbles. Finishing concrete can only have the finest sand in it to allow it to spread the smoothest. The finish work of the Latrine requires the finest sand. But, all of the rocks, pebbles, and sand will be used in this project. Each plays their role. The temptation to make a parable out of the sorting is great. Even Laura mentioned, that there must be a sermon in there somewhere. But, the are just sand, pebbles, and rocks. The sermon is in the love of people from thousands of miles away who would give of their time and money to make Haitian jobs and strive to re-present the love of Christ to the church and sc...

I find myself stuck mentally and emotionally as our work continues here in Haiti. We are engaged in something important here. We are providing sanitation to a school and finding ways that we can meaningfully minister to one hundred children who are living in the worst poverty in the Western Hemisphere. As if their situation was not bad enough, Haiti is recovering from one of the most horrific natural disasters in history. 800,000 people still live in tents a year after the earthquake. So, helping this school is very important work and providing sanitation essential. But, while progress is made on this small project, it feels insignificant. My mind wrestles with how I can make a more strategic impact. How can I not ask why such horrible poverty exists? A famous quote is that if you feed someone you are a saint, but if you ask why they are hungry you are a radical or even worse a communist. I'm neither. But, how can I live amongst such startling poverty and not question the...

We are not allowed to give the children money, water, or food. We have a limited supply ourselves. We are giving them the gift of sanitation for the whole community, the showers and toilets here will be for the surrounding hillside, not just the school. But, how many children and grown men can you see explaining to your that they hungry and thirsty before your heart bursts? One child asked us for a drink and said, "I am dead." It is hard to get used to the poverty. Port au Prince is the New York of Haiti. As much as one half of the population lives in Port au Prince. So, they have a cultural pushiness and survival bravado here that reminds one of New Yorkers. But, the human tragedy is real. People are dying and the tent cities offer no protection from the elements as hurricane season approaches. Housing, jobs, electricity, education, where do you start? I believe that you have to start with the hope we find in Jesus Christ. I believe that a powerful movement of th...

There is a revival underway at the Methodist church in Carrefour. After a half day of travel and setting up camp, the music started. The music moved with such a power that I was drawn to it like a fly to sugar. I had to see the experience that I could hear so clearly. I found myself weeping at the beauty of it. The power of the Spirit to transform even the despair of the Hatian disaster into the hopeful song of God's transforming power. The children, so many children, sang the songs of hope for a future better than the squalor of today. I simply had no idea how bad things here are. Even as I write this, I realize that the small court yard I'm sitting in has literally half a dozen or more people sleeping in every shadow. They simply have no home. Everything they had, which likely wasn't much, is gone. They are reduced to seeking refuge in the courtyard of a church. May God provide a safe refuge for them! My mind could have never imagined a humanitarian crisis on...

It is hot. And, hot all of the time. There is no central air-conditioning here to allow a break. But, that's okay. So, you sweat all night and sleep above your covers, but that's ok. It is hot. You can literally feel your body melting away as you sweat at night, but it felt to me that my sin was melting away as well. Less than twenty-four hours in Haiti and I can already feel my self-absorption disappearing. Freed from anything close to my normal comfort zone, I have become totally dependent on God. My prayers are continuous and I feel the presence of the Spirit. The people seem somehow larger here. Without the media onslaught and consumerist cultural barrage, the people on the journey with me and those who speak with the muted sounds of Creole French seem larger. As I melt away and give myself for others. God seems larger. The smiles and joy seem happier. We are all sweating, we are all tired, and we are all way beyond our comfort zones. But, that is why we came....

Tom, the United Methodist Volunteers in Mission Coordinator for Haiti, just explained to Laura and I that Carrefour, where we will be for the remainder of the week is poor and dirty, even by Hatian standards. Yet, in the midst of this, I can sense God's movement through the United Methodist School there. I am excited about what we will find in the vibrance of life there. Each of us on this trip will create four jobs for Hatians. So, our presence here does make a difference, no matter how little we accomplish. One of the real differences between Haiti and Texas is population density. Houston or Dallas never rise above 10,000 people per square mile. All of Haiti's cities surpass this level. Making matters worse, no fewer than eight hundred thousand people remain living in tent cities. Many estimates place that number still over one million. The need is staggering. We witnessed these tent cities everywhere. Again, it is simply impossible to overstate the challenges faci...

The tap tap is an amazing innovation of third world transportation. I first heard about tap taps during the World Cup coverage from South Africa. A tap tap allows persons to cheaply move around the city. It's kind of like a taxi without the personalized treatment. The ten of us on the mission team survived the chaos of the Port Au Prince airport, which deserves an article of it's own. Don't let the band in the terminal fool you. It is a competitive market for carrying our bags. Literally dozens of working age men begging to help you get your bags out of the airport. Luckily, we had Jackson. Jackson met us outside of customs and arranged our tap tap. Unlike the other tap taps, ours was larger and ready just for us. Most of the tap taps we saw along the way were small and very colorful. Overloaded with riders, they would have been very dangerous if the roads were any better. But, the roads were so difficult and congested that I'm not sure we ever travelled fas...

Today, Laura and I are preparing to embark on a mission trip to Haiti. As we prepare, my thoughts race to recent mission activities that I have participated in and my role as the pastor of St. Paul UMC in Bridge City, Texas. This past spring, as part of a group of those ordained this year, I went on a mission team to the border with the bishop and cabinet. I was asked to give the first devotional. It was a little intimidating. I prayed for the right words to help the team, but I could not get the vanity of our efforts out of my mind. How would our team make a difference? I was struggling with my thoughts. I had a text and a good quote from Dietrich Bonhoefer. But, something was missing from what I had prepared. As I got dressed, a previously unnoticed note from my daughter fell out of my folded shirt. It read, "Dear Daddy, I hope that you have fun working on houses (Houses was crossed out and stuff written above.) with the bishop. I hope they know how very important you are. You ...