The National Haitian Church declared three days of prayer and fasting throughout Haiti. Rhett, Lars and Anne share a bit of what they have encountered as a result of these outpour of prayers. And Clint Bokelman includes a video of one of the gatherings (one of many occurring across the country) they witnessed.
Rhett: I stood on top of one house, watching a group of about ten-thousand Haitians worshipping anywhere they could in close proximity to the church. I almost expected some people to lower a friend through the roof of the church so that they could be healed. I saw a man standing in a tall tree, just hoping that he could get a glimpse of the prayer service. And I was mobbed by tons of people in a refugee camp, as they frantically asked the translator if I could take their names, write down their needs and bring them help.Lars: Today I headed into a refuge tent village with 6 protein bars in my pocket that my son Soren’s class at Bradfield Elementary had given me to pass out. I had hope that I would be able to help people. I felt like I was doing some good at
least as I met with the first 6 people.Then I gave away the last protein bar…..
The 7th person who came and found me had a story about how she was caring for her 3 grandchildren because her daughter had died in the earthquake. My heart broke as she showed us where they were living.
And I had nothing to give her……
And I had nothing to give her……
We prayed for her and told her that other groups would come; but that didn’t provide for her need right then.
As I walked away I was struggling with feeling useless because I had been unable to do much for this village. My 6 protein bars seemed like such small things as I began to think about all the destruction that I had seen earlier.
Anne: When you’re driving 5 mph on a gravel road, dodging piles of rebar and mounds of rubble, you’re forced to stare into each building. You notice things left behind, like office chairs and plants that by some odd force of nature, stay in their exact locations while the rest of the building fell on top of the people inside it. After the prayer services, we drove into a neighborhood that had been almost completely devastated by the quake. Most people had moved into tents as everyone is terribly afraid to sleep under anything that could possibly fall on them.
Even Augustave, who lost his house but none of his family or friends, confessed to sleeping under the stars every night because of his fear. Rhett, Augustave and I wandered through a maze of rubble and tents made of sheets, gathering a crowd behind us wherever we went. We stopped to talk to a few families, including one family – a family of nine with a newborn (born outside on a cement slab, assisted only by neighbors, merely five days after the earthquake).
He showed us where their home used to be, now with walls crumbled and debris scattered. Then he showed us their new home.This is it.
A family of nine, with a newborn sleeps here.
We could have spent days in this tent city, hearing people’s stories and helping them in the small ways we are able until specific teams arrive. And the thing is, there are hundreds of these cities all over Port-au-Prince.
It’s endless.
May God be with each of us as we realize our responsibility to carry each other, and our common dependence on faith.
