“…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6
There are many unforgettable sights in Haiti that reflect human suffering in unimaginable ways. There was the man at the Port-au-Prince airport without any legs, dragging himself along a sidewalk, begging for food or money. The man in Les Cayes without an arm, praying with his left hand to his forehead. The young man in the Central Plateau with his elderly mother, who was blinded in an accident came up to me with her and asked me to pray for him. The demon possessed man in Petionville running naked in between four lanes of traffic on Delmas on a busy afternoon. Four people I won’t forget.
And then there is the man in the attached photo. Our office had a woman who cleaned and prepared lunch for the office and Seminary staff. Her name was Odane and she is a member at Bon Berger Lutheran church in Caredeux. This man is her husband. He had a job as a construction worker and provided for his family until he was in an auto accident and was then paralyzed from the waist down.
Odane wanted me to meet him and see if there was anything that I could do to help him. It was hard to understand what kept his wheelchair together, wobbly wheels rolling into their house and back into their small front area. We prayed, talked about life, his family, his faith and we even laughed a little when he looked at my ankles. His wife is a strong Christian and she had their children in the Lutheran school and they scratched out an existence. By the grace of God, a newer wheelchair from Orphan Grain Train found its way from Norfolk Nebraska into this humble home in Caredeux.
I am mindful of the Apostle Paul’s words in Philippians, we need to be confident Christ did begin a good work in each of us, and will continue to do so until He returns and we are taken to our Heavenly home. That is what is really important here; that we on this side of Heaven continue to call upon our Triune God to do His work through our lives until He comes back to take us home. It is important that we continue to support children in Christian schools in Haiti as they do their Heavenly Father’s work in Haiti; rescuing the lost souls from the lies of this fallen world and introduce them to our Savior.
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