Re Creation

So much is broken; there seems no way to move forward. When such a huge percentage of a country’s population is now displaced, it’s as if, in spite of the already widespread death and destruction, we are tiptoeing on the edge of a cliff—or on the edge of a cracked and slanting building and we’re all just crossing our fingers that nothing else bad is going to happen. But without doubt, rainy season is coming to Haiti. With little doubt, tropical storms and hurricanes are headed to Haiti within the next few months. The misery. The disease. The landslides. The hopelessness. The mud. The death. We’ve just hit the tip of the proverbial iceberg. I don’t think that ANYONE has a plan for what’s going to happen when these inevitabilities arrive. What the heck are these people living in tents (literally, a million or more of them) going to do when the rains come? It’s a question I hear pondered often, but never answered. Because no one knows WHERE all these people—my neighbors—will go when the rains come. My faith has been stretched a lot lately. I find myself with more questions for God and less peace because I don’t have any answers.

And the other day it hit me… There is so much about what is happening now in Haiti that cries out for redemption. And my soul began to stir with hope because I remembered that we moved to Haiti with the hope—no, the expectation—of seeing God’s redemption. We knew we would, because we already had. We had seen children in Haiti—former orphans and slaves—take their places as cherished members of a family. Redemption. But we also saw a community of people in our own city (Cary, NC) transforming as they saw this redemption. And then we moved here. And we saw it (redemption) more. More here, more there. It wasn’t as easy as we imagined it would be. But it was great. And we felt like we were living the life God had planned and ordained.

And then I think I got tricked into believing that the stakes had changed. That maybe I had gotten taken for a ride. Did God really just pull the ole bait and switch? The need, which seemed unending pre-quake, increased exponentially on January 12. And since then it’s just been one seemingly hopeless situation after another. Just when you think you’ve seen the worst you’re going to see—BAM, you see something else. Something worse. And you just don’t see HOW redemption could possibly happen.

I was fooled into hopelessness because I forgot that our redemption has already been sent.

I don’t understand why this happened. I don’t understand why this happened in Haiti. I can’t see any good that’s come of it. I don’t know if I ever will, BUT THIS IS KNOW—our redemption has already been sent.

This suffering is not news to God. He knows the names of the people in each tent and under each tarp. He knows the names of all the people still buried in the rubble or in mass graves. He knows the names of all the women and children being raped in refugee camps. He knows. And not only does he know he understands their suffering. I truly believe that. And though it seems impossible, he’s felt it to a greater extent.

This is the God who CREATED Haiti and the rest of the world out of nothing. This is the God who spoke light into existence. The God who sent his own perfect son to be the redemption we needed for a world broken by our own sin. I don’t believe that he lacks the resources, the strength, or the will to RE-create Haiti.

Haiti’s president, Rene Preval said this, “We will not try to reconstruct but rather to refound the country.” I get his intent. I actually really like the attitude behind it from a political standpoint. But both options miss the mark if you ask me. Haiti doesn’t need reconstruction or refounding. It needs re-creation. It needs redemption.

So in a way, I’ve come full circle. I still don’t know where everyone is going to go when a hurricane comes. I still see the outlook as mind-bogglingly grim. But at the same time I know what God has done in the past and I know (as the people in my church love to sing over and over and over,) “Bondye kapab fè l anko.” God can do it again.

I said we moved to Haiti with the expectation of seeing God’s redemption. Will I ever cease to be surprised when God meets and exceeds my expectations?