Green Guineps with their cantaloupe colored flesh and bulky white piths speckled the trees. The branches swung lazily in the heavy, intensely humidified air. Mischievous smiles spread across the faces of boys intent on playing a game involving pelting one another with paper bullets launched by way of multi-colored rubber bands. The girls went about playing with the smaller children and seemed satisfied with keeping to themselves while carrying out their chores. Beautiful people from a beautiful land dappled with the aftereffects of humanity’s ever-present and continual greed, coupled by the devastation of cruel natural disasters.
Haitian merchants dotted the landscape of the beach offering to present their wares at the best price. Ladies were standing by, fruit baskets in tow, menacing knives in hand, ready to prepare a deliciously sweet pineapple as the tropical rain poured down; the choppy ocean, blue and pristine, crashed on the shore.
Each of their faces held stories. I still wonder when the voices of the disadvantaged people groups of the world will be heard; but more importantly, when will the voices of the oppressed really be listened to? It’s funny though. People coming from a land of overabundance, witnessing extreme poverty seem to share a similar refrain, and that is noting the ability of those smitten by such trials to find joy in simple things. It’s important for both parties to neither glorify nor demonize one culture over another. Each has a beauty reflective of the Creator’s hands, while simultaneously being oppressed by the pockmarks of sin.
The scorching sun, the gritty dirt and the landscape filled with rocks and trees spread out before us as The Hands and Feet Project utilized the skills of our team to their advantage. God has brought the increase where a vision once resided only in the depths of a child of God’s mind. It is such a beautiful reminder of what God does with His people. He is the potter, we are the clay, and He will make something beautiful if we only let Him.
