October be Over …

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This month has certainly had its interesting share of experiences!  From going to a new Haitian church in another city, to the constant power issues that our mission is having, to our failing water pump, and to the extreme heat, October has been quite eventful; and truthfully, we are ready for it to simmer down a little bit.

A few weeks ago one our two large mission generators decided to stop working!  Convenient right!  Slowly thereafter, the other one started to break down as well.  This created a lot of different problems as you can imagine, especially since our lifestyle here still revolves somewhat around the utilization of power.  

We went through a few very rough days without much power, but things have leveled out a little bit.  I am not sure that we are completely out-of-the-woods as far as the power issues are concerned, but things have at least somewhat stabilized.

When everyone used to tell us that October was usually the hottest month of the year, I don’t think that I ever quite believed them after feeling the brutal heat of May.  However, this October has proven to be as predicted: hot!  I mean we are talking over 100 degrees hot, not counting the high humidity and heat index.  Just brutal!  Usually the saving grace is the ocean breeze or wind that swoops over the seas and down the mountains, but it has been nowhere to be found.  It has been so hot that even one of my Bible College students asked for me to pray for him to get more sleep at night.  He was having trouble sleeping, because of the heat and his own sweating.  I told him that I can definitely empathize with that.

A lot of the issues we face here in Haiti can all in some way be traced back to infra-structure issues.  Our water issues are a result of a city water problem, our power is a result of a lack of city electricity, and some of our annoyances with Haiti are infra-structure related.  In the month of October things might be slightly bad for us having to deal with a lot of different issues, but I can guarantee it is not as bad as the conditions of those around us every day of every month.  Not having infra-structure is the worst I would guess when you are completely used to it, and that it is sometimes tough for us.  Most of the people in our city know the not the conveniences of a modern society, and yet they still live fairly peaceful and joyful lives.  Would their lives be easier with some of the modern conveniences of infra-structure?  Absolutely!  Would issues of sanitation and disease go down dramatically?  Absolutely!  But these modern conveniences can only truly affect a person’s level of comfort, and not necessarily their disposition towards life.

Simplicity is a foreign word and idea to most Westerners, and yet it once a virtue and still remains a spiritual discipline.  People live simple lives in Haiti.  Most people live simply out of necessity, but that fact doesn’t make their doing it any less significant.  Having more and more conveniences and comfort seems to only create more problems; and basing your life around technology can go drastically wrong when that technology fails you (i.e. Our generators and our water pump).  In that way, technology cannot sustain a person, and it certainly cannot bring more than fleeting and transient happiness.  For realizing the beauty of simplicity I must say I am indebted to the Haitians.

I think this reflection makes me realize one other important truth: our main mission here is not to bring technology and improved lifestyle, but the life-changing and hope-giving message of the gospel.  We certainly aren’t opposed to bringing those other things, but they cannot ultimately sustain people here or anywhere.  What we do matters not because of poverty, but because of hope.  People may never have a refrigerator, toilet, or television, but they will have the hope that when the Lord comes back economic and social distinction will no longer matter, and things like poverty and disease will be completely absent.  Hope in the return of our Lord is what we bring, because we know that it alone will transform a person.

This is what we have to keep in mind even in tough times like the month of October.  Though, I will still say, “October be over.”