Our Bible is our Weapon
Our Bible is our Weapon
The weapons we fight with
are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to
demolish strongholds. -2 Corinthians 10:4
Today our team spent their
third day, second full service day, delivering water. We visited three stops in
Cite Soleil, the slums outside of Port Au Prince. Without spending time in the
area, it is hard to put Cite Soleil into perspective, but we will do our best.
It marks an area of roughly 8.5 square miles along the coast of Haiti. Within
that area there are nearly a quarter of a million people, which means that more
than 30,000 people live in each square mile. Even more astonishing is that this
is not a developed area with high rises or multi floor buildings, but rather a
population dwelling entirely at sea level. Being the poorest slum in the
Western Hemisphere, desperation for water and other necessities runs high, and
the area is marked by gangs and violence. Serving there, you wouldn’t
immediately know of the unrest, as you are greeted immediately with joy,
smiles, and of course a lot of yelling of “Hey You!”
With no sewers or running
water, the residents rely almost exclusively on water trucks to deliver potable
water for drinking and cooking. Each week, Healing Haiti teams are lucky enough
to be a part of this ministry. If you at home are wondering about the
practicality of coming on a mission trip, here you are. The work done on days
like this, and by the numerous other trucks that run throughout Haiti, is
absolutely essential to support the life that our team interacted with today.
In order to effectively
meet this basic need, our team tackled different tasks at each stop; both
working the line to ensure the efficient filling of buckets and interacting
with the community members. While you might assume that those filling buckets
are doing the brunt of the physical work, you would be sorely mistaken.
Climbing off of our Tap-Tap, we were immediately swarmed with kids wanting to be
picked up, hugged, played with, and most importantly, have their picture taken.
And when we say swarmed, we mean it (“I am already holding three kids, and you
want me to pick you up how?”) It is so clear that these kids crave love and
attention. Each stop is a blur of moving parts and ends all to soon with hugs
and goodbyes. When the 40,000 gallons of water are gone, so is our team. Well
wishes and
“God Bless Yous” are left with the buckets, but it is never enough.
Healing Haiti and the
teams that serve play a crucial role in filling the needs of those in Cite
Soleil, but the need is great. Our team was struck most by the much bigger
picture that was shared with us today. After our first stop, we had the
privilege of visiting Hope Church which stands on what was recently one of the
largest trash dumps in the country. The church stands in the heart of Cite
Soleil and is a physical reminder of the work that Healing Haiti has been doing
for 10 years. The progress that they are making in this community is so evident
for those who saw the area as recently as last year.
The strongholds, as you
might imagine, in Cite Soleil are everywhere. Gaining trust and fostering
relationships with the citizens, Healing Haiti slowly started their long
journey. We were told today by one of our translators that the majority of
those is Cite Soleil are not believers, and for many years, they have not had
access to a church. Additionally, for most families, education is an
opportunity that they are not afforded due to cost and distance. With the
opening of Hope Church, and the upcoming inaugural school year, those in Cite
Soleil will be receiving living water in addition to physical water (“but
whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I
give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal
life." -John 4:14) In America, we are used to having our pick of
the lot when it comes to churches with one on what feels like every street
corner. Here, it is a game changer. We were also told about the sharing of
verses with the community. Our translator shared that many members were drawn
to 2 Corinthians 10:4. He told us that “The Bible is our gun” has become a new
mantra almost for many people in Cite Soleil. Best of all, they have taken it
seriously and have been putting down their physical weapons in favor of the
word of God.
We were so touched by the
overwhelming outpouring of thanks for our work in bringing this dream to
reality, and by the fact that all of the glory for this amazing opportunity was
given back to God. More than once we were told of how difficult progress can be
in an area like Cite Soleil, but thanks to God’s faithfulness and will for this
project, change is happening. Our team will continue to pray over Hope Church,
Cite Soleil, and Haiti as a whole for the wonderful progress that is being
made. We also pass along the sincerest gratitude from the Haitian people for
the work that has been done to make this possible. Being down here is certainly
not the only way to make a difference in this country, and without the
financial support, prayers, and compassion from those who have been backing
this dream from the beginning it would have been impossible. Mesi anpil (thank
you very much) for all that you have done and Ke Bondye Beni’ou (may God bless
you)!
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| Filling Buckets |
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| Water Line |
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| Hope Church |
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| Bath Time |
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| Water Truck Line |
