2 Feb...5:07a

My apologies, but I have been unable to connect to the internet since yesterday afternoon.  Now that I have a connection, though, I'm going to post this right now!

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Touring downtown PaP, yesterday, was still pretty sobering.  Even though rebuilding is occurring, and the city is looking the cleanest I've seen it, tent cities are still a reality, and, it would seem, they are expanding and becoming more permanent.  Initially, these "cities" were established to provide a temporary place to live (with water points and a few latrines) for the 1.2m people who were displaced by the January 2010 earthquake.  It would seem, though, that many who were without means before (and who were not displaced by the 2010 earthquake) have begun to take up residence in these pseudo-permanent cities as well.  Their hope being that they can, in some way, take advantage of the systems of international relief that have been created and put in place over the last two years.  Things like this are NOT uncommon or unexpected; it happens all over the world.  Such are the many plights of the human condition.  (Oh...how we are all in such need of the reconciling and regenerating power God!!)

I'd like to take a step back though...a step back to the meeting we had with the Bohoc LC Tuesday night at the guesthouse in Bohoc (actually, the guesthouse is located in Pignon, the village next to Bohoc).  Needless to write, our time with the village elders was very emotional.  It was made quite obvious to all of us on Team Haiti 2012 that the village of Bohoc loves The 410 Bridge organization and that they absolutely love it when we come and visit.  The village elders were quite expressive in their love for and gratitude toward us over our coming back this year (as well as over our intentions to keep coming back!).  I did not feel this nearly as much last April.  We have not just been warmly welcomed by the village but have been made a part of it.  This, my friends, is extraordinary and is, indeed, a very great honor.  Trust is being built with a people who have been let down and abandoned time and time again by those who claimed to love them but maybe never really did.

"We are one," they all said to us.  "Please come whenever you can;  in fact, come stay with us longer (even live amongst us) because you are now a part of us, and we are now a part of you.  Oh...and don't forget to pray for us and to tell everyone back home about us."

Bohoc is experiencing an excitement about their village that is palpable.  In the air is the feeling that "something is happening here...something special."  Last year, I looked at the village elders as a collection of Nehemiahs, men and women who'd been raised by God to inspire their people to work together to renew and rebuild Bohoc.  This past week, I began to experience them also as a collection of John the Baptists, again raised by God, but anointed for an expanded purpose:  To prepare the way of the Lord's favor, to make straight His paths of blessing.  The community and its leaders, through their love, their courage, their dedication, and their diligent work, are doing what they need to do to position themselves for the blessings of God.  They are making themselves blessable (if I can use that word) by God through doing those things that they must do for themselves...those things that God will not do for them.  God will not clear their fields or break up the soil in preparation for garden planting.  No.  God will not create the planting rows and irrigation trenches.  No.  God will not plant the vegetables or fruit trees or "tend to" the plants as they are growing.  No.  All of these things must be done by the people, and they are doing these very things.  And they are looking to God for those things that only God can do:  Provide sunlight, bring the rain, and create growth.  It is a partnership, and the people know this, and they are energized by it.  It is, in fact, life to them.

And it is to us, too!

Yes, indeed, "something is happening here...something special."  A New Haiti is rising, my friends.  What an honor it is to be able to witness some of it and to play a small part in it!

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A Final Word

Given that the internet connection here at New Life has been so sketchy, I'm going to let this be my last post while on this trip.  I have so enjoyed being able to write of all of these things and to share some of our experiences with you in this way.  I hope that, in some ways, you've felt like you were right here along side us and our our Haitian brethren.  Know this, my friends:  You were...in spirit, through your love, and through your prayers.  Please continue to pray for all 11 of us as we make the trek back to the U.S. today, as we assimilate back into life in the U.S., and...as we prepare to return to Haiti in April (!!).

Oh...

And don't forget to pray for our brothers and sisters in Bohoc, either, okay?  We are one with them, and they with us.  We need them just as much as they need us.  May we all walk in the humility that such a realization brings about.

God's peace and blessings to all of you,

Dave (On Behalf of Team Haiti 2012)
New Life Guesthouse
Port au Prince, Haiti
2 Feb 2012

P.S.  For those of you who were with us in Haiti last April, our great friend and sister in the faith, Tara Thorn came out to see us last night.  It was so good to see her.  She told us to tell all of you from last April (and you know who you are!) that she loves you all very much and that she hopes you'll come back to Haiti again.  (BTW, Tara, Keith has your choclate bar!)  Okay...that's about all I have.  CU... :o)

THE END...for now.