Haiti is an already poor country, the poorest in the Western Hemisphere. I only lived a few hundred miles away, in Puerto Rico, and hearing in the news, we had a bigger chance of an earthquake than Haiti did! (The last earthquake in Puerto Rico was in 1918, and there is still an ominous presence for the “big one”.) Seeing Haiti crumble in such desperation worries me deeply because anything can happen in the Caribbean. Puerto Rico can be next, and by God’s grace nothing has happened in the last few decades…
I am not shaky, but worried. I’m as worried to Haiti and Puerto Rico as I am for a project in which I joined hands with someone I didn’t knew, knowing perfectly that I can do it alone. I still have a heart-heavy chest as I am writing, which is a completely unnoted irony. More than that, why condemn them now, when they need the most of our help!? (Pat Robertson told Haitians made a “pact to the devil” in order to be free from the French two centuries ago, but they suffered “one thing after another” and they are poor.)
Where has the compassion gone to? Many are dead, displaced, feeling sorrow and disgrace. The city of Port-au-Prince has been flattened to the ground. Others can’t go yet to their home countries, and rebuilding will obviously go to the billions. Will I be willing to return to Puerto Rico if something happened…?
There is more than what catches the eye. Even in the destruction, there is restoration. As much as Jesus restores individuals, Jesus restores nations. I’m still shaky and worried, but I still have faith that the project will be finished by its deadline; even more, Haiti will trust in the Lord and be restored.
My prayers go to the victims of the Haiti earthquake.