“In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 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 1:4-6
There are many unforgettable sights in Haiti that reflect human suffering in unimaginable ways. Back in the day, there was the man at the airport in Port-au-Prince without any legs, dragging himself along sidewalk begging for food or money. The man in Les Cayes without an arm, praying with his left hand to his forehead. The man in the Central Plateau who was blinded in an accident came up and asked me to pray for him. The demon possessed man running naked in between four lanes of traffic on Delmas in Port-au-Prince on a busy afternoon.
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. The 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 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 small house and back into their small front area. We prayed, talked about life, his family, his faith and we even laughed a little. 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 Nebraska into his 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.
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