Seeking to be a Neighbor….

I am mostly up at daybreak for a short time of prayer and contemplation but the work of the day invariably begins before I am half done. I begin to understand why Jesus went up on the mountain to pray! Someone who would know told me that Haiti is the only country in the world with a negative GDP. Every day I am involved with people with near zero resources and no light at the end of the tunnel. Our presence here brings hope and a little help that life can be better.  So the day begins with the press of needs as I remind them to “seek first the kingdom of heaven”. 

Up early today to try to see that the old people we care for have something to eat today. The sea was rough off Les Cayes and the winds adverse on the return to Ile a Vache so the friends who were sent for food yesterday caught a lot of spray in our wooden Haitian sail boat on the way home, not arriving till shortly before sunset. That made us have to separate the food into portions for each person this morning. 5-600# of rice, beans, Corn meal, sugar, and such. This time we even bought a case of frozen chicken so it will be a special Sunday for them. But then there was One who came and made every Sunday special. Help us remember, Father, what this life is all about and not fear to leave all to follow Jesus.

Ziggy is 18 and has Down syndrome. I love to go up to see her and her grandmother. Ziggy was gone to get water when I arrived. I had just walked over from Kaykok and up the hill, wondering what it would be like to do it with a five gallon bucket full of water on your head. However, she soon returned and I gave her the food we brought for her and then the backpack full of so many things that friends had packed in MO for her. We took everything out together. She was delighted. My heart filled with love and pity for her and the life she must live. Surely God has a special place in his heart for those such as she. Pray that life will treat her kindly and that the ministering angles of our grand Good Father will watch over her.

Delinda is a lovely girl with a sweet spirit that we have been friends with for some time. She is crippled in one arm. She lives up on the mountain above Kaykok with an old father with congestive heart failure. What will become of her, God only knows. This is more food than they have seen since the last time we sent food. I hope she will remember some little things we talk about and a kindness shown in Jesus name.

I was having a cup of coffee early this morning when Farrell showed up with some nice shrimp. Several pounds. Too much for me but I hated to not buy it all. He needed the money. So I thought since it was a holiday of sorts, I’d just buy it all and have the people who help us and their families over for dinner. Farrell went away with an empty bucket. I worked on heading and peeling the shrimp, put it in the fridge, went over to work at the shop, came back to help clean upstairs, went over to Port Morgan to talk about a log to saw, got the saw and sawed a tree to the ground, got the log to the shop, whew, returned to help with food prep and it’s dark by now. The porch here is full of people.

A guy shows up and says a lady is on the beach. She can’t breathe, can’t walk, so off I go, three trips back and forth checking for meds, heart attack or asthma attack, what to do? People waiting. I send Estane for the inhaler I brought for her. No one knows the number for the Dr. at clinic. She’s throwing up and can’t breathe, seems to be about to depart this life. I call Damien. He calls the doctor. We find the inhaler. I take it back down the beach again. She’s too weak to press the inhaler so I put it in her mouth and depress the pump. People all around are singing and praying, I go back to get nitro in case it’s a heart attack, check on the people here and the food real quick, go back with nitro, people from church still singing. She’s getting a little better, with Jesus and the inhaler, I try to get her to relax as she is panicking for breath, “just relax and breathe”. She’s finally good enough to walk and heads home. I hear from Damien. The Dr. says he will see her if she can come. I send Ermithe to tell her, go back to the people, and we all eat the supper of shrimp, rice, and beans. a rare treat for them.

It rained last night. A pipe joint broke on the water tank. I taped it up but will have to move 250 gal. water.  I need to take food to more old people today and over to the market in Madam Bernard (the main town on the island). The road will be muddy. A lot of directions to go this morning. I will try to be at peace and let God choose. Whatever turn the day takes, I will interact with many people. It’s my prayer that through this day and each day, they will come to know and love the Father and that the Spirit will draw them home through the only door, Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Hallelujah what a Savior!