“Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” Psalm 34:8
Resurrection Sunday has come and gone for 2020 and has been celebrated in a different way for probably all of us. We still know and believe that our Savior Jesus has risen from the dead and LIVES!!! I missed sitting on a padded pew in the sanctuary and hearing and feeling the organ pound out the hymn “I know that my Redeemer Lives” and receiving Holy Communion. This year, I spent this Resurrection Sunday sheltering in place. I read an email from one believer who was really happy about not going to the “Easter service” this year as they had the opportunity to stay at home and be what God had created us to be; human BE-ings. This year they will not be human DO-ings on Easter. They wouldn’t be getting up at the crack of dawn to rush to church bleary eyed, holding giant cups/mugs of caffeine, hoping to not be late. No huge gathering to prepare for after church.
I was looking through my cache of Haitian photos for a picture for today and the attached caught my eye, as there was a great article written by John Hall about this child year ago; back in the day. I found the story and it just shouts at me about what my life was like before COVID and what it is like now and how my yearnings are nothing compared to this young boy. This article takes a glimpse into the life of a child attending the Lutheran school in Thomassique.
“Envision with me this plausible account by a boy named Kevin who shared this story through an interpreter. It was a hot March morning and a neighborhood rooster and hunger pangs woke me. My older sister and I started getting ready for school. My little brothers were crying because they were hungry. I didn’t ask if I could have any breakfast because I knew the two slices of bread and small serving of beans my family had divided the night before was all the food we had. The walk to school was one of about four kilometers. The road was rutted and dusty and today there were a lot of people on it hurrying to the market with things they could sell or exchange for things they needed. Men led cows, women walked with huge loads on their heads, trucks loaded with people and their goods bumped by in clouds of dust. When we reached the center of town, people were already setting up their spots. There were lots of things; goats, chickens, corn, tomatoes, onions, dirt cakes, shoes, clothes and tools and all of these things could all be bought by those who had a little money or something to barter. I paused briefly beside a lady selling beans and rice and said a silent prayer to God for my Papa to find enough work today to buy some food so Mama would be cooking it when we got home.
But today was a special day as well. We had been told that a Trinity/HOPE mission team might be at our school (L’Univers Lutheran) School in Thomassique to talk about our getting one of its feeding programs. When we arrived a big, dusty vehicle was parked in front of the school and the mission team was our school yard taking pictures of some of the children who were bringing wood so the food could be prepared if we truly got such a blessing. I wished I had found some wood this morning.”
This was an actual account of this small boy named Kevin and one year later God had provided and the children were getting a meal at school each day. When that year’s mission team visited the school to see how the program was working, a young boy rose and asked if he could read a letter he had written for his entire class. It was Kevin and the letter said in part: “Thank God for providing and Trinity/HOPE for feeding us. The food is so good. We love to eat it. Please do not stop feeding us.”
Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you…Jay