God is a Naked One Year old…
This morning as we arrived at our church for bible school, we had literally hundreds of Haitian children show up. This church had concrete walls and a tin roof. It had been repaired since the quake destruction and it was situated in the middle of what seemed to be a warzone. The ghetto of Petit Guave consisting of thousands of makeshift refugee shelters and temporary tents. The smells of this place stagger me. Scents of coal, burning wood, and trash.
Everywhere you go those smells follow.
Once the children arrived we started walking to a field several hudred yards away for soccer. We walked through mud, brush, over broken walls, across streets, and past many tents and temporary shelters. It is hard to call them homes.
As we walked with hundreds of kids hanging on us and me personally holding 6 hands and having one ride on my shoulders, I came upon the most beautifully shocking sight since I arrived in Haiti.
It was a little girl.
Maybe a year old though she looked much younger. She was standing outside by the path where we were walking. No one was around. No parent. No siblings. No one.
Shocking yet beautiful.
She was naked. No pants, no shirt, no diaper. A 1 year old girl on the side of this dirt path. Hundreds of excited kids, awful smells and sounds… And then this little girl.
We met eyes and I just smiled. That seems to be all I know to do. Helpless yet so powerful. I then stopped and took the boy of my shoulders, let go of all the hands, and stooped down to this little girl. As I picked her up into my arms, I didn’t know what to do. I could not take her with me, she could not understand me, and I had nothing to give.
So I just prayed. I prayed over this girl blessings, mercy, and unconditional love. In that moment the smells ceased. The chaos was not heard. And even the children around me got silent. It was special. It was sacred. God was there.
There are moments like these taking place every day as we are here and our hearts have been blessed so much. Amidst all our work and effort, prayer is still the most beneficial thing we can give. Jesus said it, the apostles practiced it, and through moments like these I am learning to believe it.
Please pray for us as we continue this journey. Our God is great and his Name is being made famous through our team.
