Classroom Disturbances and More Reflections

Dear Family and Friends,
March 7, 2010

Another couple weeks have passed here, and it still seems that there has not been one moment I’ve been bored since arriving at HAFF. There’s certainly plenty to do—packing up food for families with refugees, teaching English classes, leading a conversation group, helping coach soccer, tutoring, continuing to work on my Kreyol, and spending time with the others at HAFF—but it’s also been good (and necessary) to have some down-time as well, after some of the adrenaline/novelty of the first couple weeks has worn off. For everyone here, little times of rest such as Friday evening movie night and Wednesday staff Bible study are so necessary. We had a great time watching October Sky this past Friday, accompanied by a kind of “snack potluck” replete with the (treasured) commodity of good old regular American junk food as well. The food here is good, but sometimes cravings for chocolate or a pound cake from a box just can’t be stifled!

The weekly activities have been continuing as usual—English classes, conversation group, soccer, meeting and activities with the rest of the staff, and tutoring (now that the family whose daughter I am tutoring has returned from the states). Those at HAFF and some of the leaders in the community have also been working on getting and packaging up food, for distribution to families with refugees from Port-au-Prince. Thanks to the World Food Program (I believe) and other donations, we have been working on dividing and distributing hundreds of sacks of food (rice, beans, salt, and oil) to help out several hundred households.

Teaching has been going well, and though some days are more challenging, it is enjoyable to be able to teach and see the students have fun learning. In my classes the main focus is pronunciation, so we recently learned the word “antidisestablishmentarianism”—and practiced saying and spelling it in English. That was especially fun, and tongue twisters (great for learning pronunciation too) also bring laughs. So far we’ve done “She sells seashells down by the seashore” and begun “Peter Piper picked…” But at times, not everything goes according to plan. A couple Mondays ago, we were halfway through the class period when the students started exclaiming “Koulev! Koulev! Snake! Snake!” I looked where they were pointing, and saw a small snake in the rafters above me and my chalkboard, so I tried to redirect their attention to the class. But then, when I saw the snake’s head appear, I realized that I had originally only seen part of its tail—this was one of the biggest snakes I’ve ever seen (probably a boa), and must have been several feet long. It was coiling around in the rafters, so we ultimately had to switch classrooms before the students could redirect their attention to our work. A rather unique morning!

On another note, I and a couple others from the community have recently begun getting together for a Bible study on Saturdays, something that has proven to be a special time. We discussed John 3:16 and other related verses last week, and this past Saturday we looked at Psalm 1. It is a blessing to be able to be a part of the group, and good to be able to also study in another setting than simply Sunday mornings at church.

One thing that has been an interesting challenge recently has been thinking about giving. As Americans, it feels like we are often asked for help (i.e. money, food, etc.) and also simply presented with a great number of needs. At times, those issues are of life and death—hospital runs in the past few weeks have involved such cases as a young boy with severe burns and a woman unconscious for a number of hours with a head injury before HAFF was notified and able to pick her up. But other requests, such as for money, use of one’s house for charging phones, or aid with other more diverse needs are also part of the weekly scene. Some are probably just people wanting to share their difficulties and have an understanding ear; others are requests for help. As I was thinking about this, I was struggling with both knowing that there are many genuine needs, but also wondering if others simply view us as ways to get something—not genuinely desiring relationship. Connie (one of the missionaries here) helped me think through this, and had some good perspectives on what such requests can mean here: First, she said that people truly believe that it is more blessed to give than to receive, and so when someone asks for something they may think/know that they are actually giving the opportunity for the other to be blessed by helping them. Another perspective is simply that this is what friends do—they help each other—and if they were able, they would do the same. And another perspective, she said, is that Haitians love to be the person who is able to help others out and give stuff, and so when they ask for help, they are actually complementing the individual from whom they are requesting something. These perspectives allowed me to better understand the common requests for help. But still, Christ-like love, wisdom, and patience are needed in this area!

One other thing I’ve been thinking about recently has been grace. It seems that the Haitian church is especially strong in the areas of dedication and fervor at times (evidenced by 3:30am services, 4-hour worship services during “Fets”—church celebrations as the harvest season begins—and young people’s desire to serve in the church). However, there seems to be less talk of grace than I believe is reflected in the gospel. When I asked one of my friends to explain the gospel in Kreyol, it seemed that perhaps 90% of what he said centered on the person’s response to being saved—rather than Christ’s work to save us. Other missionaries here confirmed grace is something they seek to focus on as well, as it is often not preached as centrally as it ought to be. This has proved an interesting and especially relevant topic for me as well, as I often struggle to grasp the depth and true implications of God’s grace in the gospel, so that has been one of the main topics of my studies lately. Grace. A small word, but so much within it! And it is often so difficult to accept, as it must shatter our pride, purge our illusions of self-sufficiency, and reckon our desire to believe ourselves morally good in and of ourselves as the lie that it is. Easy to say and write, but so hard to live those very truths.

This, then, is one of my central prayer requests for these next weeks: for the Haitian church--and all of us as well--to come to a deep understanding of God's grace, that we may live in grateful obedience (as the right response to grace, and through which we are able to experience the joy of deeper fellowship with the Lord—something we must also never forget) as we unceasingly rely on Christ’s work on the cross for our forgiveness.

Thanks for taking the time to read about my time here, and please continue to pray for God’s work in and through the Haitian churches, to bring many to Him and to continue to draw ours and others’ hearts to Him through their witness. Thank you all again for your wonderful encouragement to me throughout my time here!

Feel free to check out my blog (www.bonjoufromhaiti.blogspot.com) for some pictures from the first few weeks. I have not uploaded many because of internet limitations, but look forward to showing more when I return to the States!

Have a great week,

Jonathan