Most people have forgotten about Operation Uphold Democracy. It was in late 1994, and Jimmy Carter, Colin Powell, and Sam Nunn had negotiated the return of exiled President Jean Bertrand Aristide to Haiti. The existing Haitian military dictatorship left the country as US military forces moved in to provide security and restore some order.
Two weeks later, I arrived in Haiti to visit friends who were running literacy programs throughout the country. It was a curious time in Haitian history, with US military personnel visible everywhere. Gunshots could be heard at night, and a backfiring car in the daytime made everybody scramble for cover.
My visit to Haiti left me depressed for weeks. The country is, as a good friend describes it, a basket case. There is hope in the country – there is always hope – but little else. I have friends who work there or run organizations with a presence there, and I greatly admire their persistence. They deal with a dysfunctional society, a corrupt government, and an island depleted of nearly all natural resources.
It was my trip to Haiti in 1994 that solidified my commitment to the poor. Frederick Beuchner wrote, “The place where God calls you is the place where your deep gladness meets the world’s deep hunger.” While I was not called to Haiti, the trip did confirm for me that I’m called to be a voice for the poor. As one friend described it, I am a translator between the poor and the wealthy, for they do not understand each other. That might be a bit grandiose, but there is some truth to it.
PathLight operates in Belize, a country that has some similarities to Haiti, but is not nearly as dysfunctional. My joy – or as Beuchner would say, my gladness – comes when I see the boys and girls in our sponsorship program experience spiritual, personal and social transformation. My joy comes from seeing teachers begin to understand a new teaching technique they can use to impact their students. My joy comes from seeing North American donors and volunteers grow as they confront poverty in Belize. This is where my gladness meets the deep hunger of the world.
As you pray and respond to the needs in Haiti, I hope you will also think about where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet. My hunch is that it does not come from a one-time gift to a needy country, or a short prayer given for victims of the earthquake. It takes more commitment than that. Also, living a life for self is not the way to find gladness or the hunger of the world. Gladness comes from giving up oneself.
So as the headlines about Haiti fade, do not forget the poor. As the Apostle Paul said about receiving his mandate to strike out on his missionary journeys, “They only asked us to remember the poor – the very thing I also was eager to do.” He then left Jerusalem to change the world.