It’s been four years since the world awoke to the reality of the January 12, 2010 earthquake that devastated the Port-au-Prince area.
Millions were displaced.
Nearly every home was damaged.
Over 100,000 lost their lives.
The Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation, imploded.
On January 13th, 2010 I wrote:
In moments like this I feel like there is little I can do. While I would love to hop on a plane and “go help” the truth is I don’t have any skills that are actually useful. (I doubt they need a blogger) I will do the next best thing. I will give what I can and commit to joining the people of Haiti who stretch out their arms and call out Jesus’ name.
My commitment to Haiti was simple.
- I’d pray.
- I’d give some money.
- If I was able, I’d go.
Little did I know that 5 weeks later I’d be standing amidst the devastation to discover something that has reshaped my personal life so dramatically.
Amidst the realities of millions living in official and unofficial tent communities throughout the community. Amidst the dust. Amidst the hunger. Amidst the mourning of a nation.
Amidst something so dark and so complete we encountered joy. We encountered hope. We encountered– for lack of a better term— revival.
January 12th, 2010 awakened the Haitian church. And the little group of bloggers I went with were there to see it.
Later, pastors described what happened with words like this. “For generations the church in Haiti was strong but small, lacking confidence. But the earthquake gave us strength. As we took care of families we became more bold and people responded.” [This is a synthesis of a lot of conversations, not a direct quote.]
A similar thing happened in the U.S. after September 11th, 2001. But it didn’t last.
In Haiti, the church was awakened in her response to the earthquake and built on it from there.
The local churches response to the earthquake has become the testimony of the nation. The government didn’t help people. The NGO’s didn’t help people. The United Nations didn’t help people. The Voodoo priests didn’t help people. It was the church, only the church.
On my first trip in February 2010 I had a deep sense that God wasn’t done with me there. I went back in July 2010 with a group of youth pastors. My blog, and a few others, helped continue to connect churches and youth groups to the work in Haiti. Things built and more folks went, but it was a bit disorganized.
That course got corrected in 2013. Last April I went back to Haiti and about 20 youth pastors with Praying Pelican Missions. I really liked what I saw. In fact, our relationship with PPM has continued to grow since then.
In July 2013, Marko and I went back to Haiti to get a behind the scenes look at not just what they do, but how they do it.
So here I am. 4 years after the earthquake. Having seen the devastation first hand. Having seen how things have developed and gotten better in some capacities. While the long-term, systemic things that have kept Haiti impoverished, are still in place… I’m still optimistic about how the Haitian church is changing Haiti from the inside out.
So. Four years later.
I’m still praying for Haiti in general and my Haitian brothers and sisters by name.
I’m still giving to organizations that I’ve seen make an impact and cut through the red tape.
And I’m still going. Again. And again.
Your Invitation
If you are a church leader thinking about taking a youth group, family trip, college group, or adult group to Haiti… I’d like you to consider going to Haiti with me in April.
Fill out the form below and Jim Noreen from PPM will follow-up with you. There’s still room for a few more and we’d love to have you consider joining us.
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