As many of you may know, several friends & co-workers from YWAM San Diego/Baja are currently in Haiti helping to restructure staff for a more long term outlook. They were able to visit Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti and hardest hit, and Lindsay Spang captured the heart of the situation in her blog today. Here is what she had to say (to follow her and her husband's journey through this trying time, visit their website at www.thespangs.com.
Today our team of 8 went into Port Au Prince. We were not really sure what we would see or how we would feel, but we knew that if we were going to be a part of the long term work here in Haiti we needed to see not only the good, but the pain and the hardship as well. So at 7:00 we loaded into 3 vehicles and made the 2 hours trip into the city.
The closer we got to the city the more chaotic it got. The first thing that we noticed was that right outside the city there are acres and acres of concrete pieces that the city has removed from the wreckage of the earthquake. The more we drove the more we saw with our own eyes what we had been watching on the TV just day’s prior.
Massive buildings were toppled. Rubble, concrete and rebar were everywhere. There were some streets that just looked like you were in any typical 3rd world country then you would turn down another street and it seemed like you were in a movie about the end of the world, it was intense.
The thing that we noticed though was that life kept going on in Port Au Prince, Haiti. On the news we saw pictures of broken, hurting and weeping people, but what we saw today were a people who decided to get up and move on. Now we understand that they are still broken and hurting, but they are not stopping. One of the Haitian men with us today told us that “the Haitian’s are a strong people, when we get knocked down we get back up and keep going.” This was very clear today.
At one point today we stopped at the palace, which is completely destroyed, and 6 boys walked up to us with smiles on their faces. There were excited to see us and they wanted pictures taken of them and pictures with us. For a moment it seemed like people had forgotten. People had forgotten about the death, the hurt and the pain and were just living again like God intended, with smiles on their faces and laughter in their hearts. Be strong Haiti, Jesus has not left you.
Prayers go out to our team currently in Haiti working with YWAM Haiti and the government. Thank you for your continued support.
Today our team of 8 went into Port Au Prince. We were not really sure what we would see or how we would feel, but we knew that if we were going to be a part of the long term work here in Haiti we needed to see not only the good, but the pain and the hardship as well. So at 7:00 we loaded into 3 vehicles and made the 2 hours trip into the city.
The closer we got to the city the more chaotic it got. The first thing that we noticed was that right outside the city there are acres and acres of concrete pieces that the city has removed from the wreckage of the earthquake. The more we drove the more we saw with our own eyes what we had been watching on the TV just day’s prior.
Massive buildings were toppled. Rubble, concrete and rebar were everywhere. There were some streets that just looked like you were in any typical 3rd world country then you would turn down another street and it seemed like you were in a movie about the end of the world, it was intense.
The thing that we noticed though was that life kept going on in Port Au Prince, Haiti. On the news we saw pictures of broken, hurting and weeping people, but what we saw today were a people who decided to get up and move on. Now we understand that they are still broken and hurting, but they are not stopping. One of the Haitian men with us today told us that “the Haitian’s are a strong people, when we get knocked down we get back up and keep going.” This was very clear today.
At one point today we stopped at the palace, which is completely destroyed, and 6 boys walked up to us with smiles on their faces. There were excited to see us and they wanted pictures taken of them and pictures with us. For a moment it seemed like people had forgotten. People had forgotten about the death, the hurt and the pain and were just living again like God intended, with smiles on their faces and laughter in their hearts. Be strong Haiti, Jesus has not left you.
Prayers go out to our team currently in Haiti working with YWAM Haiti and the government. Thank you for your continued support.
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