Lespua Fe Vir

"Lespua Fe Vir " is posted on our "hospital" wall by the "nurses station". It is a Hatian proverb that means "Hope makes life, by hope we live". I've been thinking about hope a little. And since I've been working the night shift, I've had a few extra madrugada (middle of the night) minutes to think on such things.

I'm sitting in the nurses station (an old dinning room table, a few chairs, another table with all of the supplies on it, a cabinet or two and some stacked rubbermade bins, some charts in front of me and a large black dog near my feet). The drone of the oscillating fan and rhythmic snoring outside is periodically interrupted by the cry of one of the 6 infants wanting to nurse or the crow of the overhasty rooster behind our building.

This could go in a really depressing direction. But instead of telling you about the devastation I have seen, I would like to share about the hope I have witnessed.

Erta is a lovely lady I met the day I arrived in Haiti. She speaks English well, and graciously taught me some basic Creole to help me get by. Erta has seven children. She told me the story about her experience in the earthquake, how her two oldest children who were in college in a different part of the city were trapped in the rubble. She told me that they were found and rescued and that this was a miracle from God. She then began to tell me that she has to be thankful to God everyday because He is SO faithful. She spread her slender arms as far as she could and said with a huge smile, but full of conviction "God is SO GOOD, I can measure His goodness!"

Here in the hospital there's a worship service for our patients every evening. It's all in Hatian, so I don't truly know what they're saying... but I think I pretty much get the jist. They talk and pray and sing and it's all about Jesus. His goodness, His faithfulness. The service comes right after shift change which is a very busy time for the nurses. But I always try to stop for at least a few minutes and take it all in. At the risk of hyperbole: The worship is joyfully rapturous. My brain does not connect the words, but my heart understands in full. Jesus is being adored.

So I'm thinking about hope tonight. What is the hope of Haiti? What is the answer to the devastation I have seen? To the loss and the suffering? The answer is Christ. He knows of and cares for the people of Haiti - their souls and their eternal future, as well as their bodies and their suffering today.