God’s Time for Haiti
He was all alone, squatting holding a small hammer….off a half-block away on top of what was a four-story building in downtown Port-au-Prince. Though hot, there was a breeze coming through this horrific scene that seemed to move in slow-motion…but the acidic evidence on the wind carried with it the reminder of the latest violence done to this stricken city, this time by earthquake. The latest estimates, elusive at best, had put the death toll at 150,000 with tens of thousands more still buried in the rubble. Almost a million are homeless, living in tents (often made with sheets or cardboard) with very little sanitation, clean drinking water …surrounded by the dead….and the rainy season soon to begin. I watched as several Haitians walked by, paused and washed their hands, feet and faces in puddles in the street….doctors are predicting tens of thousands could die from water-borne diseases soon.
The man on top of the pile kept hitting the concrete with his little hammer with an almost metronome regularity, moving small pieces aside….nothing but concrete…but still he hammered in the sun. I had returned to Haiti fact-finding to see what Sharing International and other similar organizations could do to help. Miriam Fredrick of 
World Harvest Missions asked me to come down and see for myself…within 23 hours I was here having hopped a private cargo plane coming in with supplies. Hardly any organized recovery efforts seemed to be carried out to remove the bodies. The normally stoic Haitians just watching the places where they think their family members may be buried….they may never know.
The international community, the NGOs, the Christian relief groups are all doing a great job for the time expended and the staggering enormity of the task ahead. At the World Harvest guest house, I met many of them...and went to staging areas to meet the rest…to see what they were doing, ascertain what they do best (or not) and see if Sharing and those who have been a part of Sharing Teams over the years can help.
Sharing International was born in Haiti in the late 1980s. After spending years in missions a war zone, I’d seen death and want…..but not to the degree I saw and experienced in Haiti. I saw children die for want of things that the everyday person I knew would throw away or buy for pocket change. God seized my heart. I came home and called my friends and family “I’m going back to Haiti……come with me!! Come share who you are!” Three months later, and for the next seven years, we brought determined, trained and disciplined medical and construction teams into one of the most deprived areas of Haiti…..partnering with groups such as World Harvest, Mercy Ships, YWAM, Jack Hayford’s church, Vineyard, Assembly of God and independent churches. All ages (14-75), camping out, holding medical clinics and sharing the love of Jesus Christ by word and deed….doing what the Word calls “pure religion” (James 1:29). We know that thousands of physical and spiritual lives were saved. At the same time we helped a Haitian Christian radio station with equipment and produced programs that aired the Good News of Jesus Christ there.
Our last team to Haiti was in 1995, as God opened doors of opportunity to help indigenous leaders reach their own people, through radio and television on three continents (Africa, Europe and Central America), while the medical teams expanded into Central America.
I was in the Miami airport several weeks ago returning from teaching an annual Christian Media Seminar in Belize. Crowds were gathered looking up at the TV screens... the headlines screamed “7.3 Earthquake Hits Haiti….capital devastated” ….and while I watched, I heard God speak to my heart “…..return to Haiti…..”
So, here I was, experiencing the physical and spiritual intensity in Haiti that flows copiously through such war zone or natural disasters.
Watching the man breaking concrete alone held my eye. I raised my camera and took two shots……then asked a translator nearby about the man. “Oh, that man, he heard his wife was in that building when it went down in the earthquake…no one can help him …he just cries and wants to find her” All alone. Tons of concrete, dust, metal and debris with no idea where his wife may be…he won’t leave, even if all he has is a hammer to break through the twisted rubble to find her.
As I write this, its Valentine’s Day……..this man won’t leave without his wife. God’s heart is like that for Haiti.
Haiti is alone …..Their history and experience has resonated sorrow, want and loss. This multi-dimensional disaster is overwhelming to all the international community and to the church that has tired from time to time of the powerful challenge.
I believe I know why God asked me to “return to Haiti”. It’s to show me that no matter how impossible the challenge seems to be, He has not given up on Haiti and wants the church to stand with the Haitian people and the Haitian church specifically to do what each can do over time to find her. The need is so great….no organization is too large or too small to do the vital jobs designed for that size organization to do.
What does this mean for Sharing? This is an unfolding plan, some of which will be reviewed this week by our board and advisors to make commitments on projects that involve the everyday person who desires to be God’s hands and feet. Much needs to happen quickly so please pray that the Lord will direct our steps, provide financial support …and volunteer staff that can give even more of themselves to something that will remain in Haiti.
Projects that will save lives and bring healing and hope to these children; we will partner with proven, effective and powerful ministries already on the field, There will be a place for everyone to be involved to “put their hands to the plow” for a season…..employed, unemployed, housewife, executive, in your own communities as well as in Haiti. Watch this space for these few projects and more details how you can help to “….find her…”
God Bless,
Chuck Pollak