Haiti

I'm going to Haiti next month on a mission trip with teens from my church. We had a meeting yesterday and learned the history of that beautiful place. It is a sad history filled with exploitation and slavery. At one time it was the most profitable country in the world but because of exploitation it now sits near the bottom. What used to be a country rich in top soil and mahogany trees is now a country ravaged and partially destroyed.

We watched a video from the earthquake and my eyes leaked tears as I watched people in pain and suffering. I have no idea what it must have been like to experience a tragedy like that. I don't know how it feels to have the earth shake under you and everything you know ripped from you as building crumble on every side. My heart hurt for a people who have been pushed down and oppressed. People made in the image of an incredible Creator. People carrying pieces of Him within themselves. People loved dearly by that Creator. There were no words.

I don't know what the Lord has planned for us or for me in that place. But I know that I will feel things deeply. That I will bump up against really hard realities that I don't often see. That my heart will break in ways I didn't even know that it could. Through it all I just pray that the Lord would reveal His heart, His grace, His mercy, His love.