December 1, 2021
Hello from Haiti!
This month Dr. Oris Guillaume tells us a great story of thanks coming out of the middle of Haiti's struggle. Here is his report:
Can good news come from a poor place?
Haiti is in the news lately, whether it is immigration, the Haitian crowd traveling from Brazil to Texas, or kidnapping and hostage-taking in Port-au-Prince by the 400 Mawozo gang members and other groups. In light of this, the irony of a sentence comes to mind. Do you remember Nathanael's mocking question from the Bible: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” What good can come from places of marginalization and oppression like Haiti, or in Bible times, a place like Nazareth? Jesus was born to poor, unwed parents who had been forced to travel very late in the pregnancy to a town that was not their own. They either had no family there or their family was too poor to take them in. And now, on top of that, the Gospel of John tells us people would be really surprised if anything good came from Jesus’ hometown. No good can come from Nazareth, is the answer to Nathanael’s rhetorical question. We think that good news comes from those with power, from the center. “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong." I Corinthians 1:27 [NIV]
Yes, here is the good news of thanksgiving!
We hear Nathanael’s question about the poor and outcast today. If anything good was to come from the poor, they wouldn’t be poor to begin with. Hitherto, something good can happen in the midst of the impoverished nation of Haiti. While all the hospitals were closed due to the crisis, and a gallon of gas was more than 2500 gourdes or $25 US, there was an example of good news. Our clinic was opened to serve the least. Our clinic administrator, Sister Roselene, reported that a mother came with a child named Woodlyn, 9 years old, who was sick near to death and found the only clinic to open: Our clinic. After the doctor diagnosed the boy and ran some tests, he gave him some medicine and sent him home. The doctor said it would take him some time to be fine. The staff always prays for patients before they leave. Surprisingly, the mother came next day with a tear in her eyes to thank our staff and said that the boy was doing better. He was not able to hold food in his stomach for almost a week, but now he could.
Though we are small, we continue to serve those in need.
Seemingly, we are foolish to open the clinic in the midst of the challenge that Haiti faces today. People think that good news always comes from those who knew how to bring good news to themselves first. They also tend to think that only bad news comes from the poor, the outcast, and the dispossessed, but they didn’t get that idea from God. The surprising answer was “yes.” God chose to have His Son, the Savior of the world, live in Nazareth. If we have to continue to do it, we will do it. The clinic may be small, but we are making a difference in the life of people, just as the home town of our Savior may be humble, but Jesus is king over all Israel (John 1:49, John 12:13).
