Building New Relationships

This week has been a good one.  We have had two families at the mission from the Grand Rapids, Michigan area.  They were definitely a blessing for many people here at the mission but also for us personally as they brought along their wives and children.  Monica and the kids had plenty of fun times with them.  The men were both doctors so they served in the hospital here at the mission while the ladies and kiddos worked around the mission doing some cleaning, painting, and gardening.  We are enjoying getting to meet so many new people as they come here to serve the people of Haiti! 

We are continuing to take Creole lessons with Wilner and are beginning to build relationships with some of the Haitians that work here at the mission because our creole is starting to come along.  One of the guys working here at the mission has a daughter who is 6 years old.  He has been sharing with me this week that his daughter has been sick with a high fever and didn’t want to eat.  Throughout the week he had made plans to bring his daughter to the mission to have her see a doctor.  Fortunately she was able to see a doctor here at the mission at very little cost to the family, but she needed some medicine that couldn’t be bought here at the mission pharmacy.  He hung his head when he told me that he didn’t have the money to buy the medicine down in Petionville (a town not far away) and I asked him how much the medicine would cost.  He told me it would cost around 45 Haitian Dollars, which equals around $6.00 US.  Typically we have a policy of not giving money out to anyone because it can be easily abused and lead to dependency but I checked with some of the missionaries who have been on the field longer and they said it would be fine to help him out, but to do it in a way that preserves his dignity and offer to pray with him for his daughter.   Later that evening, I had the opportunity to talk with him and I handed him the money (that would barely buy a value meal at a fast food restauraunt) and told him (in my broken creole) I know how it feels to have a sick child and I hope that this money can help make his little girl feel better.  His eyes lit up and he responded by saying thank you, thank you.  What he did next blew me away.  He led my by the hand over to where he had stored his bag for the evening and pulled out a worn novel and in its pages he kept 5 pictures.  One picture was of he and his wife on their wedding day and the others were of his two daughters.  He held out one of the pictures of him with his daughter and said, “Ou ka gen sa.” (You can have this.) I was shocked, he was wanting to give me one of the precious pictures that he kept with him at all times.  His selflessness was humbling.  I asked him if I could pray for him and his daughter and we did.  We shook hands and I headed home reflecting on what had just happened.  The rest of this week has been filled with updates on his daughter and time spent talking about our children.  As I reflect on our circumstances I am confronted continually with the gulf that exists materially between myself as an American and so many of the Haitian people. I realize that I have much to learn from their selfless, giving hearts.