Why Haiti?

People ask that all the time?  Why adopt from Haiti?  In a nutshell, I spent the summer of 1982 in Cavaillon, Haiti with a group of teens building a church.  It was a great summer where we worked hard, but our Saturdays were spent visiting local sights... waterfalls at Saut-Mathurine, Les Cayes, and the ocean.  A seed was planted during that summer, the seed of adoption.  There was such a need.

Fast forward to the summer of 2004.  Our family was in the car and Focus on the Family was playing.  Bruce Wilkinson was discussing his new book, The Dream Giver.  I never did read the book but after listening to the interview we all discussed our dreams... our big dreams.   My big dream that was unfulfilled was my dream of adoption and God brought it to the forefront so powerfully that day.  We all talked about it but it was clear that my family was not on board. 

September 2004.  Tropical Storm Jeanne hit Haiti... HARD.  The exact same area that is facing the deadly waters today was devastated by mud slides that September.  As soon as I heard the news, I just felt this heavy heavy burden.  I felt like my kids were stuck in that mud.  My family was in need.  I'm not a melodramatic person, but I really felt despair and the sense that my family needed me.

July 2006.  Our family had the privilege of being in camp meetings with a great speaker.  It's not that Jo Anne Lyon is the most dynamic speaker I've ever heard, but her message was just what we needed.  She used her book, The Ultimate Blessing, Rediscovering the Power of God's Presence as the backbone of her messages.  We were finally ready to commit to adopting from Haiti.  We started the process.

September 2008.  Haiti is once again feeling the power and destruction of water.  I know that my kids are safe.  GLA is high in the mountains and their buildings are strong.  I have a peace about their safety, but Gonaive and other flat lying areas are just being decimated.  My thoughts are a jumble.  My questions are many.  

He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how.  ~Friedrich Nietzsche

"I had always loved the word hope, but the idea behind it was elusive to me.  What is hope?  How would you describe it?  Finally I hit upon an analogy that helps me understand the concept.  I envision my life as a train, set on railroad tracks, with an engine that makes it go.  I see hope as the destination of the train.  The tracks upon which the train moves are love, and the engine that makes it move is faith.  The apostle Paul referred to 'Christ in you, the hope of glory' (Col. 1:27).  When I see my own suffering as a way of sharing in Christ's suffering, I'm driven toward hope.  I know that I have a 'why,' a reason for what I experience.  Therefore, I have hope."  The Ultimate Blessing (p. 132-133)