Why Do I Love Haiti So Much?

It's hard to explain my love for this place. 



The people are as resilient as I have ever had the honor to meet. They live and work in unimaginable circumstances to make their life. It's not a life at all like the one I lead here.




Some things about life there are very old, some things are new. This little girl really does ride a mule several miles daily to attend school. But she is lucky. She rides instead of walking.




Children are children everywhere. They all love sweets and sugar. They all love hugs and giggles and smiles. They all want security and affection.




The sky is a beautiful clear blue, while the sun is blazing hot. The ground is dusty and the breezes are lovely.




The children have hopes and dreams. They want the same things all children want. Mothers and fathers want those things for their children. Education and a better life may be impossibly beyond their reach, but they work and reach for it anyway.




I love the warmth I see in the smiles, the honesty in the interactions, the full embrace of life lived everyday.




It is an exotic and foreign place, while being altogether familiar. The customs and rituals of Voo Doo are present, as is the truth of Jesus. There is faith found everyday in multiple interactions and hope is fleeting but it still rises, no matter what attempts to squash it.




My heart is there. Will it come home when our boys do? I'm not sure? Is it tied only to the boys? Or tied to their homeland so inextricably that I will be drawn there over and over? What is it that draws me?




The land is savage and stark yet breathtakingly beautiful. The mountains meet the azure sky and the breezes off the ocean cool you.



The beach is not one in the Bahamas or in some other tropical paradise that is commonly visited by a multitude of vacationers annually. This beach is in Haiti, and it is the most beautiful sight imaginable at the end of a hot, sunny day.






The ocean is life, and a constant source of upheaval to the island. Hurricanes are a threat, as deforestation has contributed to erosion and mudlides after heavy rains are not uncommon.



This photo looks like it came straight from the middle ages....how is this real? Yet, despite the lack of running water, solid homes, or anything that makes this community like one of ours--what is wrong with it? Who am I to say it is less, who am I to say it is not as important? Who am I to say these people mean less than my own family? Their lives have value. Jesus died for them. He layed down his life as much for people in this village as he did for you and me.....



And they come to know Jesus the same way we do. Only, this man--this sweet man said he needed to go change his shirt. So him, and his two boys, put on their best, and then kneeled, and sweetly accepted Christ. I won't ever forget that moment. When he said that he wasn't fit to kneel before the King of Kings the way he was. Are any of us?

Why do I love Haiti so much? How can I not love her? 9 days and I get to visit her again....