This past week I went to Haiti with both my parents. It was an amazing experience and one I won't soon forget. This was my third time to Haiti and I have to say I learned more about the country this time than the other two times combined. This was mainly due to the fact that I spent my time there with 2 missionaries, one of whom was Haitian and had lived in Haiti for his entire 53 year life.
Obviously, when you live somewhere for 53 years you know way more about it than an expat who has lived there for 3 years or less. This man was an amazing man of God and I learned a tremendous amount from him and his American wife who has been down there for the past 20 years. They have 3 wonderful children and I really connected well with the 2 younger ones naturally as I used to teach elementary education.
Where do I begin with what all I learned? Perhaps I should start off by saying it can be quite paralyzing when you learn about all the problems a country has. You naturally feel overwhelmed and like anything you do will just be a waste. It also gives you a higher regard and respect for missionaries who have committed their lives to serving people in that type of country.
Haiti is an interesting place to say the least. The pastor we met taught us so much about the country in such a short time. We learned about how corrupt the government is and how you have to pay bribes to get anything through the ports, then you have to pay more bribes when you are on the road or they send you back even if you have the right paperwork.
He taught us how he has struggled with developing leaders. They seem to get to a certain point and then hit a barrier. I think he best put it when he said most Haitians are slaves waiting for masters. People have developed a dependency mindset over the years and lack inner drive or motivation from years of depending on aid.
I was asked to preach on Sunday and gladly took the opportunity. Haiti has an unemployment rate anywhere from 60-80% of the working age population. I shared 6 passages on work and then posed the question what do you do about these passages about work when there is no work? If you feed a man a fish, you feed him for a day, if you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime. What if there's pond? What if there's no opportunity?
I simply suggested you have to create your own job. I saw a lot of blank stares as this was clearly a new teaching. The pastor and missionary I stayed with had started some businesses in the past before they moved. He's wanting to start some more businesses in the near future. I preached twice on Sunday. In the morning his wife translated and in the evening he translated.
His wife said he got fired up after I preached about work and decided to keep going along the same theme after I was finished. So, while I got a lot of blank states perhaps I planted some seeds and I know I encouraged the pastor. It also inspired me to follow after my dream of starting an entrepreneurship school down there someday.
As I was telling the youth group about my trip this past week, I emphasized the need for Jesus. That's why I think Christian NGO's are so much more effective. I also mentioned that when you share the gospel it has to be the entire gospel, not just fire insurance. In Rwanda they had an 80% conversion rate to Christianity before the civil war took place.
People identified with their tribes more than with Jesus. I preached that if you create a job for someone they are more likely to listen to you than to some preacher whom they don't know. If you create jobs you effectively create a platform in which to share the gospel.
I also preached that Haiti will only change when Haitians take the initiative. Change doesn't come from outside help, it comes from within. This is true on a societal level as well as an individual level. Jesus changes a person from the inside and then that person helps change their community from the inside.
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