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| Mission teams from New York, Michigan and Massachusetts join Hopewell's crew for a photo at JFK Airport. |
My immediate reaction upon arrival in Haiti was one of being completely overwhelmed. Departing the airport you are overcome with the sights and smells of abject poverty: hill sides filled with tents (displaced families from the Jan '10 earthquake); naked children playing and women washing clothing in dirty, stagnant water; men standing/sitting idly - 2/3rds of the adult population is unemployed; riding through tiny towns where street vendors are displaying merchandise - but there are no obvious buyers. During the drive to Mission of Hope, the bus stopped at a mass grave from the earthquake. The grave holds 250,000 bodies. Tents are strewn across the grave site sheltering families that want to be close to their deceased loved ones. Are you feeling overwhelmed?
Let's change the subject.
The Mission of Hope compound has much more here than we realized, as well as several additional campuses. We knew about the school that hosts 3000 students, and about the orphanage that houses 63 orphans. We were unaware of the 35,000 sq. ft. warehouse that receives goods, and packs food for over 480 schools. There is a clinic, complete with a prosthetics lab. A full service hospital has been built and is ready to be operational, but there is no funding to staff and operate the hospital. The enterprise appears to be a well-oiled and efficient business with many, many moving parts. The most impressive aspect of this enterprise is that it is being managed by a very small staff of 20-something -age North Americans and 300 Haitians.
We attended an energy-packed two-hour service in the open-air church on campus. The service was conducted in a combination of Creole, French and English. The first hour or so was energy-charged music performed by the 14-member praise band. An impassioned message was delivered by the church pastor. Does Dan Hepner have a Haitian brother? Given the French/Creole language used by the Pastor, I don't know specifically what was said, but his passion, and the energy with which it was received by the congregation was contagious.
As a component of the Mission of Hope program, work teams are encouraged to spend some time with the daily devotional. Last night's devotional included a question, "Do you think it is easier or more difficult for someone in Haiti to follow Christ?" Given the history of this country and the images that were painted between the airport and the compound, one could hardly blame the locals for questioning their faith. I am here to tell you, Christian faith here in Haiti is strong.
--Jim Kreher
