Friends in Christ,
Less
than a two hour flight from Miami, there are kids running around
naked in the slums of Port au Prince because they don't have any
clothes. I think I knew that Haiti would be poor, but I was
unprepared for the level of poverty in parts of Haiti. It is amazing
to see the spirit of life in the eyes of the children, especially
considering their surroundings. Looking at such a situation, it's
hard to imagine anything other than despair, and yet there is life
there.
It
always seems easy to choose despair. Modern media certainly makes it
easy for us—the news seems to be a non-stop option for reasons for
despair. CNN had a countdown clock to the second of when the debt
ceiling would be breached and the world would be thrown into
chaos—they were counting on your anxieties keeping you glued to the
screen. Our own city has plenty of options for despair in the midst
of violence and inequality. You can choose between crime, hungry
kids or countless other options as reasons to give up hope in the
future.
But
we're not a people called to despair. The Holy Spirit always prods
us to choose hope—God reminds us of our ultimate destination, and
he reminds us that we are to spend our time wisely on earth, looking
for signs of God at work and joining in with what God is doing as he
builds his Kingdom. We don't just huddle in the corner and wait for
heaven—we're called to let our hope be a living hope, an active
hope, a hope that gets its hands dirty in the mess of the world and
shines light into the darkness of despair.
God
is at work in Haiti. Even in the slums of the poorest country in the
western hemisphere, God is working to shine the light of redemption,
one transformed life at a time. God is at work here, too, through
the ministries of congregations and individuals willing to get their
hands dirty amidst the chaos with which the world threatens us.
Never lose hope, and never stop working as an agent of change and
hope in our world. In the end, God wins, and we're called to
participate with joy in his eternal victory march!
In
Christ,
Keith
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