”We are a nation without value” is what the people of Haiti think of themselves. This morning three ladies from our base shared their experiences after a month working in a clinic and counseling in Haiti. The ladies, originally from America, Namibia and Zimbabwe, said they have never seen such poverty - not even in Africa. Haiti was a poor nation before the earthquake that killed 200 000 people, but now people do not have houses, and if they do, they still sleep outside because they are afraid. People do not have clothes and most of them have never worn a piece of new clothing in their life, always getting things second hand.
Next month the rains will start. There is nowhere for people to go. Sanitation is non-existent and people do their business wherever they feel like it. The rains will most probably cause typhoid and cholera to flourish. The worst thing, our ladies say, is the hopelessness of people. They are apathetic, but on the bright side - God is using the situation now to bring people to Himself. People have seen that voodoo does not help them and many say that there must be a purpose to them surviving.
Ida, Mawuse and I are excited to go to Haiti in July. We hope to work with the YWAM base in Port-au-Prince. It is only being pioneered, but the greatest needs are in the capital. (There is also a YWAM base in St. Mark.) Our challenges will be with hygiene and the stench, I assume. On the other hand, security and food will not be such an issue as we first feared.
The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned. Matt. 4:16