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Eldercare, Worship and Hope

Eldercare, Worship and Hope

Eldercare, Worship and Hope   In my time living in Haiti, I had the rare privilege of living at Grace Village, up on top of the hill in Titanyen, looking up toward the dusty, winding mountain roads and out over the stunning views of the villages and ocean below.   My favorite time of day was sunset. The evening beauty never ceased to take my breath away; as the world around me calmed and quieted, the sky became a silent display no artist can properly recreate. The breeze brought some sweet relief from the heat of the day, and the rooftops were bathed in color.   I stood out on that balcony almost every evening, just taking it in. I knew those sunsets were special, rare, moving. I knew that even though the sun would continue to rise and set, for me, those balcony-view sunsets were fleeting and I wanted to soak up every moment I could.   I recently had a thought about sunsets as I reflected on the communities of elders we care for within Healing Haiti. I often...

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Called to Flourish

Called to Flourish

Called to Flourish "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish." -Psalm 1   I picked up my Bible this morning and read Psalm 1. Right next to the text, I read a note that I previously scribbled. I don't recall whether this was from me or someone else, but God definitely used it to stir my heart.   "A tree bears fruit not for itself but for others. Therefore, when the faithful prospers everyone around the...

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Becoming the Father

Becoming the Father

For a quarter of a century I’ve heard pastors, conference speakers, and authors work to unpack the implications of Jesus’s famous “Prodigal Son” parable. Some have suggested that the story would be more accurately referred to as a parable about prodigal “sons” because, in a manner of speaking, both children of the father’s children were “prodigals”.  One left home with his feet, the other with his heart.  One of the keys in understanding parables is recognizing that these aren’t necessarily stories that happened but rather stories that happen. Additionally, parables are more like a piece of art from which many valid interpretations can be derived than a math problem for which there is generally only one “right answer.” Parables often defy historical or cultural context because they highlight realities that lie at the heart of what it means to be human.  While there were many Jewish rabbis who utilized parables as a method for teaching universal truths about God, humanity, and the...

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Longing

Longing

Longing. I long for Haiti.  I long for the place I have come to call my second home. I long for my eyes to see the faces of those I’ve grown to love and for my ears to hear the sounds of the hustle and bustle of the Port-au-Prince’s streets.  I long for my heart to feel whole again.  This is where I am today. But this is not where I was 12 years ago when my relationship with Haiti began. I went to a place I had no attachment to, no desire for, and no knowledge of. I went there because I couldn’t not go.  Believe me, I tried to say no. But God had other plans.  Once I realized the Lord was clearly directing me to Haiti, I began to long for a rewind:  Lord, would you please just erase whatever You’re doing to draw me there? Would You please undo whatever it is You’re doing to my heart? It would be so much easier if I could live a life of no pull to enter the unknown – to just remain content in my comfortable life. I don’t like the unknown. I don’t like change. I don’t like it messy. ...

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Honest Prayers

Honest Prayers

Looking back on my time in Haiti, it seems crazy how much has happened. I moved to Haiti in 2018, and I’ve been there through a handful of peyi loks (nationwide lockdowns), counteless protests, and several bouts of political and gang-related unrest. I’ve felt the heartbreak of watching friends-turned-family go through tremendous suffering, but I’ve also felt the joy of celebrating their triumphs.  I’ve been in the lowest of valleys in Haiti. But I’ve also reached the mountaintops–those sweet, often quiet, moments when the overwhelming contentment and joy almost made me forget the sweat and tears that got me there. Both the highs and lows have brought me to my knees in prayer more times than I can count. I’ve woken in the middle of the night with the urge to pray over a situation, scenario, or person on many occasions. Through it all, my prayer life has grown stronger… Or, at least I thought it did. In July 2022, as I listened to my friends describe the unspeakable violence a gang had...

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Can You Hear Haiti?

Can You Hear Haiti?

“We are marching against violence, we are marching against kidnapping,”  “We want everyone to hear our voices…We need a solution to Haiti now.”   “This is God’s purpose, and God is going to make a move,” These are the pleas of a growing number of Haitians who are crying out for the world to wake-up and bear witness to what’s happening in their homeland.  According to the Haiti Health Network, these are the current realities facing Haiti:  562 Haitians die from hunger every day  53% annual inflation rate  10% of Port-au-Prince under government control  70% of Haitians that state they would support an international force to fight gangs  78 Haitian police officers killed in the first three months of 2023  Last Sunday, across the U.S., Haitians and Haitian-Americans took to the streets to raise awareness and advocate for intervention amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Haiti.  And while the legacy of foreign intervention in Haiti is riddled with exploitation and heartbreak, the...

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Turning Points

Turning Points

One of the most common questions I’m asked by those who first learn about the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Haiti is:  How did the situation in Haiti get so bad?  This is a difficult question to answer, in part because across the centuries international influence has withered what otherwise might be a thriving Caribbean nation. Tracing the contours of that history deserves much more than a blog post–you can get a brief overview here. What I’m interested in briefly discussing here are a handful of recent events that have made life in Haiti even more challenging. In fact, a recent report by the IPC (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification) indicates that about 5 million Haitians (roughly half of Haiti’s population) are currently facing “high levels of acute food insecurity”.  Over 500 Haitians are dying from starvation every day.  What follows are key markers in the deteriorating reality facing Haiti:  COVID When COVID-19 was officially designated a global pandemic,...

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A Recipe For Sustainable Love | Part 2

A Recipe For Sustainable Love | Part 2

‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ (Jeremiah 29:11)  Last week, in part one, I suggested that the often-quoted promise in Jeremiah 29:11 came on the heels of utter devastation. Babylon had laid waste to Judah, burned Jerusalem, and reduced the Temple to a pile of stones. Many of Judah’s inhabitants were subsequently led about 1,000 miles, along a scorched road, to modern day Eastern Iraq, where they were given a unique assignment:  This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into...

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A Recipe For Sustainable Love | Part 1

A Recipe For Sustainable Love | Part 1

We all know the promise. It’s been printed on bookmarks, posters, and coffee mugs for the better part the last century:  'For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ (Jeremiah 29:11)  I entered seminary in 2007. My first class was called hermeneutics, which is a hundred-dollar word that simply refers to the task of discerning the meaning of Scripture within its original context.  Despite being over 15 years ago, I still recall my professor’s often used refrain:  Context is king.  In other words: the most important task in interpreting the Bible is discerning what its words meant to the original hearers/readers. This may sound like a relatively simple endeavor; however, when you recognize that the Bible is a collection of books and oral histories written across almost two millennia by dozens of authors on three separate continents…well, let’s just say, things can get challenging. The problem...

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Haiti Fatigue

Haiti Fatigue

There’s a phrase I’ve been hearing thrown around on social media in reference to escalating humanitarian crisis in Haiti:  Haiti Fatigue  It’s the idea that the news out of Haiti is so consistently and progressively tragic that (it is argued), people are tired of hearing about it. Now, I’ll be the first to acknowledge that my role (Director of Partner Development at Healing Haiti) creates a degree of bias against Haiti Fatigue. Be that as it may, I wanted to offer four thoughts about why we (and especially the Christ-followers among us) might want to consider avoiding the temptation toward apathy, which I believe is implicit in a concept like Haiti Fatigue.  Pursuing The Impossible  It is difficult to study the life of Jesus and not walk away (at least a little) perplexed. After all, Jesus had access to every available molecule of miracle packed into our Universe. Which means, Jesus had every option to assert and endlessly retain universal political power. This is why Satan’s...

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