"Because the wind and waves still know His name.."
Last week was surreal. We heard a hurricane was making its way towards the Caribbean, something that happens pretty often this time of year; but as we watched Matthew grow to a category 4 storm, our dismay grew with it. We watched as it strengthened, as it turned towards us, as it threatened the city I live in and love deeply. Once Gonaives, on the western coast of Haiti, was marked in the red zone, we took preparations seriously.
We packed up our houses. We packed up our classrooms. We pushed things away from windows, raised anything touching the floor, packed up all the books, the pictures, the valuable things. We stocked up on food and water, and prepped classrooms for people to stay in. We called all the students to the school last Monday morning, the day of the storm - and we worshipped. We told them of the hurricane and it's potential to cause real harm, to come back to school if they lost their homes, and to stock up on food and water before the afternoon. But first, we worshipped. We sang songs of God's strength, of his presence during times of fear and uncertainty, we praised God for his ability to calm the storm, to speak peace to the wind and waves. At one point tears came to my eyes thinking of how vulnerable these kids and their families would be to the storm making its way towards us. But this Monday morning we sang a little louder than normal, danced a little more wildly, with a little more urgency - but also with more assuredness. And peace rushed through that cafeteria as we did so.
Monday afternoon we set up our game plan to stay in our house through the storm, and made a room upstairs into our "bunker." And then we waited. And waited. And waited. For 48 hours we waited for the storm. We played cards, cooked food, watched the skies - and waited. And during these hours, we watched as the storm took an unexpected, projected turn West, away from us. Tuesday morning it hit the Southwest peninsula of Haiti. We all know the devastation it caused - our hearts sank and broke apart as we held our breath and watched reports come in of the devastation. In Gonaives, we continued to wait. It hit Port-au-Prince, it hit a beach resort we frequent about 2 hours south of us, and as we waited for what was coming - all that came over the mountains was rain. Heavy rain, but no wind, no floods. Just rain. Even as people rushed to the mountain Tuesday night, saying the canals were overflowing, they stilled and went back down to normal levels. We woke up Wednesday morning, and seeing that the storm had passed and the rains had stopped, and our city had not flooded, we thanked God for showing mercy to Gonaives. Praise God - He heard our cries, heard the prayers of friends and family across America, and all that came was rain.
We were blessed - we experienced a miracle in our city, and that was not lost on us. But we all know other parts of our country were destroyed. This is the time when we want to help - to do whatever we can - and rightly so, because the people of Haiti need our help. But more than anything, they need us to be smart in the help we offer. We can purchase food, water, medical supplies here IN COUNTRY. We can provide business to mothers and fathers, who may have also experienced loss in the storm, by purchasing these things locally. And we can get them much faster by doing so. Don't jump on the next plane to be boots on the ground here(unless you are a specialized doctor), we have people who are established here and can help - use the money you would have spent on a ticket to help them do so. And if you want to fundraise, do so with Haitian made goods, because there are so many beautiful things made here.
Right now, if you want to help, donate your money - put it in the hands of established, middle sized organizations already on the ground here. If the hurricane were to hit our city I know that I would want to fund Cody to get the clinic up and running before funding UNICEF - because we know the language, the people, the needs.
If you want to give, please do so! If you want recommendations on where to give, please message me!
Thank you all for walking this out with us.
