Day 4: The Outlook

The nights seem to reflect what's whirling around inside my head, my heart. From the uneasy night to the quiet and peace that lulled me to sleep last. There are still the barks and cries of the night. But the violent turmoil has subsided. The Caribbean sun wakes me gently reassuring that it will be all right. 

It is Sunday and Leïka led us down the street to the local church. We tried to blend in, kind of like a clown at a wedding. We snuck into children's church as best we could, coming in well after the service had started. We took a seat towards the back as Leïka sat through her last Sunday school with the familiar. It was a beautiful thing. The lesson was about Noah, or so we were told. 

Leaving early, we did our best to sneak out as we had a service to attend at the main GLA house. If the Haitian church is what Leïka needed, this service is what I needed. It was staff and volunteers attending with a couple leading the service who have a mission to support the staff and volunteers of Haitian orphanages. The message was about a blessings and how blessings from God are about Him giving you identity and destiny.

We left the main house and headed out on a drive. Tim (the guest house host) took us down through some Haitian poverty and up through some Haitian wealth. The contrast is so significant in a 200 meter vertical climb up the mountain. Corrugated houses with tarps to multi-million dollar homes. At the top of this mountain there was an outlook where we could see over the 4.5 million population of Port au Prince and out to the ocean. It was pretty spectacular. 

This trip was just Tim and the three of us. It was a good time together experiencing some of Haiti. The roads were a mix of potholed earthquake residue and paved stretches of asphalt. Needless to say for some of it you needed to hang on tight and other times was a smooth ride. 

I think my outlook is much like that of the Haitian roadways, some rough patches with an occasional smooth spot. And not unlike Haiti's continued progress in road rebuilding, I think our path will become smoother over time too. But I think I should still sit down and buckle up for what is ahead.