Thoughts about Haiti

Filed in Thoughts on January 13, 2010



Five years ago, I went to Port-au-Prince in Haiti on a week long mission trip (I played in an evangelistic crusade).  I remember the city very well.  It is very simply a dreadful place--squatters build illegal houses of about 100 square feet everywhere, sewage runs through the streets (calling them streets at all is generous), dust is everywhere, and crime is rampant.  We stayed in a house that was guarded by men with machine guns.

Here are a picture of a typical street.



Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere.  I remember hearing people say that the only real solution for Port-au-Prince was to bulldoze it and start over because the infrastructure that it needed was non-existent.

But the missionary we worked with was doing great work there.  I remember faces of people I met, especially children.  People left their tiny shacks to come to church squeaky clean, dressed like a million bucks and with smiles on their faces.  The churches are growing rapidly.

The girl on the left was my best memory of Haiti.  All of the children wanted their pictures taken and wanted to see the pictures on the camera preview screen.  This little girl was especially photogenic.



I suppose it will be weeks before I know if the missionary and the church survived this earthquake.  It is hard to imagine how such a difficult place could be more difficult, but Port-au-Prince must be in absolute chaos right now.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to them.


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