The upcoming April edition of the Reporter is currently having the finishing production touches done on it down in Texas, and should be ready to roll out to the public online in a few days, with the print edition going into the mail by the end of the week. This column by Bishop Jonathan D. Keaton will appear in the issue.
Despite our economic challenges in the nation, the state of Michigan and the local church, our love for our neighbors has not been shackled, and our billfolds and pocketbooks continue to make a difference when it comes to others. Haiti is a prime example.
We had Volunteer in Mission (VIM) teams in Haiti before the earthquake. Plus, United Methodists have worked alongside our Haitian brothers and sisters dating back to 1817.
Methodists have joined them in the work of rebirth and/or renewal.
Indeed, God has used us as one of the signs of resurrection, past and present. In the wake of the January 12th Haiti earthquake, that killed the well known and the unknown, more will be required of us.
A District Superintendent in a circuit outside Port-Au-Prince said it best: “You (had) your 9/11, now we have our 1/12.”
America lost three to four thousand people because of 9/11. Due to 1/12, Haiti lost over 200,000. In a Haiti supplement published by The United Methodist Reporter, how Port-Au-Prince and surrounding were crucified by an act of nature is delineated.
The worst earthquake in the Western Hemisphere in the past century took an estimated 200,000 lives, left thousands of Haitians, hungry, homeless and wounded along with dashed hopes and dreams.
In some towns there was no medicine, doctors or clinics; in others, there were no markets or vendors selling food.
What’s more, Haiti has had the highest maternal mortality rate in the Western hemisphere (670 over 100,000 live births according to the United Nations Population Fund).
Before the earthquake, Haiti was the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
Before the earthquake, 80 percent of the population was unemployed. Now it is close to 100 percent.
However noble and logical, no theologian could provide a totally satisfactory answer as to why Haiti has repeatedly suffered hurricanes, earthquakes, political instability, and outside forces of exploitation over the years.
For who can plumb the mind of God, humankind’s inhumanity to humankind or the rages of nature? I can’t.
But I can point to signs of resurrection “stirred up” by the “stirred ground.”
In the twinkle of an eye, where the people of Haiti lived, worked, worshipped, went to school, were hospitalized and resided in retirement villages became unsafe. So, they ran into the streets. Others were helped out of buildings threatening to entomb them.
Hence, thousands of Haitians survived the 7.0 magnitude earthquake.
Samuel Loomery, age 17, whose dream of becoming a diplomat is deferred, expressed hope anyhow.
“I have hope in God because he gave me a second chance at life,” he said.
God blessed 65-year-old Sarla Chand similarly.
Sarla was alive and buried in the rubble of Hotel Montana along with Rev. James Gulley, the late Sam Dixon, Clinton Rabb and the others. Imprisoned by rubble, they looked for a light in the darkness that never seemed to come. But when it came, a word of praise spilled forth from one of their lips.
“The glimpse of light is glorious,” someone exclaimed.
Sarla was rescued and returned home. Beyond individual stories, the evidence of renewal and restoration surfaced in other multiple expressions. More than 100 nations and 500 humanitarian agencies have poured into Port-Au-Prince and surrounding environs. They have addressed a mountain of human need, physical and spiritual.
Yes, a glimpse of their light is glorious.
Why? Because the Haitian people see tangible evidence of their lives and circumstance undergoing renewal and restoration, however slow. Given all the tumult and turmoil, the supplement recorded a poignant story concerning one local church.
A woman in a town called Mellier shared a telling witness.
“We are continuing all our activities just as before the earthquake. We have even added a few new members,” she said.
That short testimony warmed my heart. So has the one mentioned below:
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. used an oft-repeated phrase at points in his movement when those who retaliated against his non-violent movement used beatings, bombings, fire hoses, dogs, death threats and death itself to manacle the quest for justice.
“For every Good Friday, there is an Easter,” Dr. King said.
Good Friday came to Haiti January 12, 2010 — and Easter came almost immediately. The Haitian people, the church universal and the nations of the world began rolling away the stone of tragedy so that new life and light might spring forth in Haiti, Chile or any place in the world.
Easter is a coming April 4, 2010. In Michigan and around the world, we’ll celebrate Jesus’ coming up from the grave with all power and victory in his hands.
As we celebrate the risen Christ with sermon, song, family gatherings etc. let’s sing a song of victory for the people of Haiti akin to the witness of the Apostle Paul. “O grave, where is thy victory. O death, where is thy sting.”
Is there any better sign of resurrection than this? Have a blessed Easter!!
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