I recently visited Haiti, a couple weeks before Hurricane Issac hit and caused massive flooding in Port A Prince and the sounding areas. Like most people that come to Haiti to visit, I was shocked by the sites of poverty, unsanitary living conditions, rough roads and yet beautiful mountains and natural scenery. However, that was not all I was shocked by. I went with a group of pastors from the United States who dreamed up the idea of developing a pastor-to-pastor & congregation-to-congregation partnership with Haitians. We met with two groups of pastors from different parts of the country to talk with them about this idea. What shocked me was not that these pastors were willing to meet with us, they were glad to meet with us. What shocked me was when these pastors began describing for us the types of ministry they were doing with practically no budget and very few things that we would call resources. They also told us that they did not want us to view them as beggars, or lazy, because that is how many outsiders have viewed them...from the perspective of pity. They told us that Haitian Christians are people of strong belief in God and that the ministry they do is hard, but important work and God is blessing them.
To be honest I was quite convicted seeing the conditions that they live in and I had already visited many of these pastor's church building, and knew they had very little material resources. However, in the midst of all these odds that had been stacked against them they were still serving God and quickly outgrowing every building that was erected for them to worship in. The more I reflect on this experience and the perspective partnership that is developing between us, the more my idea of "true resources" are beginning to change. Maybe the "almighty dollar" and "air conditioned buildings" are not as great of a resource as we have come to believe. Maybe a strong belief in God and the drive to serve others, even when our own resources are few, is a much greater resource? Maybe we have much to learn from those we thought had very little to offer? Maybe....
