Posted by Dr. Joe lamb, CTR Haiti Medical Team leader
“Those who trust in the Lord are like Mt Zion which cannot be shaken but endures forever.” Psalm 125:1
Dr. Joe lamb treats a small Hatian patient.
We have all seen the pictures and images from television. They remain ingrained in our minds and hearts. The reality of the destruction of Port Au Prince and the surrounding communities is overwhelming. Buildings are rubble and pan-caked, streets are fractured, mountain roads are covered by landslides and most disturbing tens of thousands buried still in their houses and businesses.
Everyone is this area is without safe housing and all are living in the streets covered at times by tents but more often by thin sheets and small pieces of tin. People are living in the medians between streets or sandwiched into 6×6 living areas, baking under the hot sun but praying that it does not rain. People are waiting in long lines for food and water often going hungry or most often drinking dirty river water. What was really surprising to me however was that life goes on for a very resilient people. It is a country used to adversity that is shaken to the core.
We were privileged to be able to go and minister and listen to the stories that each person could tell. We learned to listen closely.
One of my patients complained of fevers and chills at night. After initially thinking of a variety of infectious diseases such as malaria I asked further questions and I discovered that this woman was sleeping her yard with her kids and husband due to the loss of her home. Her chills were shaking with cold each night with no covering or blankets.
Another pregnant woman had not felt her baby move since the earthquake and had a lot of pain in her abdomen. This woman needed more testing but when trying to arrange this she explained that her husband had died in the earthquake leaving her and her three children who she could not afford to care for. Unfortunately this was a everyday story with over 200,000 dead in the country.
When our team met one night early in the trip two of our interpreters whom we had just met shared. One had lost his business and 15 employees in Port Au Prince and he had carried out his dying best friend from beneath the concrete. The other was a college senior and 90% of his class and all 200 of his freshman class perished! Our small concerns that night suddenly became insignificant and trivial.
In all the despair, however, hope is rising. People are shaken but turning to Christ in a tremendous revival. During a short week of services we saw over 100 converts in a small church. There was standing-room-only at services that lasted over three hours and ended with dancing and singing and praising as people left to return to their “dwellings”. I have never seen the light of Christ burn so brightly in a people as they prayed and worshiped together. Eyes were intent on the message and hearts open even after so much tragedy. We were so privileged to play a part as Pastor John preached one evening and Jocelyn our interpreter and friend helped lead worship. I believe that the hope for Haiti lies not with all the donations and aid but with the spiritual revival that is beginning. During one night of team sharing a great commotion was heard on the streets, so loud that we could not hear each other share. I was mildly irritated at this disruption until this irritation turned to shame when we asked Jocelyn what was being shouted. He replied that they are chanting “God is King over Haiti!”
Our group was incredible. We had four doctors and 10 nurses and assistants and a pastor on our team. It was an experienced group, full of leaders with great skills and most importantly individuals with a tremendous heart for the Haitian people. Enduring many challenges with no electricity, a shortage of drinking water, limited bucket showers, 95 degree heat, roach filled outhouses, tents laid on rocky ground and infested with fire ants, the group responded with laughter and compassion. I have never heard so much laughter as we rated our MREs (military meals ready to eat) or as we filled a truck with 23 people and luggage, ducking when we blew two flat tires, thinking we were under fire. I saw great compassion with many tears for the people as we listened to stories we could not change. I saw the skills as members resuscitated a newborn, sutured and stabilized and 14-year-old with an unstable jaw fracture and cleansed many wounds. We provided care to a community that few teams have ever reached, in an area where to receive surgery a resident would have to travel at least three hours over the mountains if they could even find transportation.
This was a team that ministered to each other and truly ministered to the Haitian people. A team that pointed us towards Christ and a team that was similar to what we saw in a young Haitian boy. He was given a small sack of fruit snacks by our team and despite his hunger and the great treat, he took them out one by one and shared them with everyone in the room. This was a team that really personified Christ.
We thank all of you for your prayers and financial support. We pray that Haiti is not forgotten with the next disaster. We pray that we do not stop giving because we feel we have done enough. We pray for more tents, more food and a long term plan for the country. And most of all we pray for revival for a new Spiritual awakening for this people that has been oppressed in darkness.
Senye
Ala nou kontan
Se pa nou k’ap kenbe ou
Men se ou k’ap kenbe nou
Lord
How glad we are
That we don’t hold you,
But that you hold us
(Haitian prayer “God is no Stranger”)
Thank you so very much for what each of you did and are doing. We, including the children whom I teachg weekly, are praying daily for you and the Haitians. God is so good!