by Gordon French
Haiti is a place of contrasts, contradictions.
To survive, people work incredibly hard, long days. Yet a smile and laughter are easy to find.
Most people who live there want to escape. Most who live elsewhere miss home.
It is called a Catholic nation, but almost everyone believes in the power of Voodou.
The country cannot feed itself without aid from the rest of the world, but Haitians distrust the foreigners who bring that aid.
Haiti is located in one of the most lush, diverse ecosystems in the world, but it has large swaths of barren land from decades of destructive practices.
Like the land, Haiti has abundant people resources, full of art and music and energy, handicapped by the highest level of illiteracy in the Western Hemisphere.
Contradictions and contrasts, just like us.
Haiti needs divine love, but we'll have to do for now.
We have committed to bring education to children who otherwise will be illiterate and isolated. This is an act of love. Love for people we do not know. It is an act of faith, for we don't know how to raise all the needed funds nor do we know that the people we entrust to do the educating will do it well.
And so, our delegates go to Haiti this week to bridge some of the gap between them and us. They will get to know the Haitian people better, and they will return with stories and pictures that help us know them better, too. They will show our love so that we are known by them, too. They believe that God's love can bind us together to build Kingdom along with the school. Me too.