What do I do in Haiti?
This is a question that I ask myself fairly often. I look at many ministries that are working in Haiti and realize I pale in comparison to the awesome work that they are doing. They recognize that their job is crucial and they do so with care, compassion, concern, and love.
Here’s what I mean. Haiti has become a hip place to go. I have seen many of my friends who were clueless to Haiti, take missions trips to the country since the earthquake. The earthquake exposed needs. It opened opportunities. this has been both good and bad. When I first started taking short-term missions trips (STMs) I had a warped view of what it is to take a trip.
Below, you’ll find some of the typical attitudes and thoughts I had that I feel are reflective of what goes on today.
- There are poor people who need our help, so by going, we can take stuff to them that they need. This makes sense, right? They need stuff. We have tons of stuff. I was that way. I was thinking of the old shirts that I didn’t wear that I could take down there. I was thinking of the old running shoes that had lost all the cushioning and that I had to retire. Surely they’d enjoy some free shirts and shoes that I didn’t want anymore. This is a noble idea. It is giving of myself to people who don’t have these things, right?
Stop what you’re reading right now, open a new tab, and Google “SWEDOW.” That was me. “Stuff We Don’t Want.” If we’re honest, why should I try and send a pair of old worn out running shoes with 650 miles on them and think that some person in Haiti would want to wear my sweaty, worn out, pieces of rubber? My trash is good enough for them? How messed up is that?
So the answer is clearly, “Let’s go down to the Wal-Mart, buy some flip flops, shoes, clothes and mail them to these people, right? Wrong.
Let me show you some pictures from the local market.
I jokingly called this “JoAnn Fabric” at the market in Mirbalais. This is just one of the pictures that shows you they sell fabric, so that the people who know how to sew can make skirts, etc. I have other pictures of people who are selling t-shirts. You can also go by the Haitian Payless Shoe Source (again, cheesy Ryan joke…) where someone is selling new shoes.I post all of this, because it took me forever to recognize that by me taking down a bunch of junk, or even new stuff, I was hurting the economy of the fabric lady in Mirbalais. Why would we need some fabric to go and make a dress whenever that American guy will send me one? But not just her, we kill the fabric economy, and the lady who sews the dresses, all for an old piece of clothing.
So my biggest thing learned in this, is by sending goods that they already have in country, I am stealing money from the person who has made that their profession!
- I should be thankful for everything I have, because some people don’t have those things. Don’t confuse what I am saying here – you should be thankful for the things that you have. God has blessed my wife and I with jobs which has allowed us to buy some “pleasures.” But what I am saying through this point is: “If all we are learning through missions trips to Haiti and other poverty-stricken countries is that we should be thankful for what we have because there are poor people around the world, then we have missed the point.” Poverty goes beyond money and material things.
One of my biggest guilts of going to Haiti, was this picture:
I took this picture my very first trip. It was a beautiful little girl in Laboul, Haiti. But when I came home, suddenly I was like, “Oh, poor thing. She can’t afford this and that…” While these are true sentiments, what I allowed was to take the extreme poverty to manipulate people. I become a poverty tourist. I took pictures of these poor kids, not with the intention of building relationships, but I was exposing their poverty, making people feel sorry for them to give money, etc.It’s a confusing emotion, because does that little girl have an issue with her eye? Absolutely! Could it probably be fixed in the states fairly easily. Probably. (At least I’m assuming. As a youth pastor, the last time I performed surgery on someone, it created a difficult and long day…) My point is if all I have coming back is this picture that will make me put it in front of people and say, “Wow. Look at that little kid. She is so poor. We better be thankful. We better send her some shoes. Or maybe a dress. Or maybe some crayons…” then we’ve missed the point.
- I’m making a huge splash through this missions trip. This is the hardest one to swallow for me. When I took my frist trip, people were saying things like, “That’s so great that you went. They really need a lot of help.” As if me, as a senior in college at the time, studying youth ministry, was going to go and turn around the government infrastructure of the county in an 8 day trip. Ater seven trips, I still haven’t figured out what makes Haiti click. I still haven’t figured out what I’m doing half of the time. I still can’t figure out my role within the mission as the Children’s Home Coordinator.
STMs are about us. As stated, what is a group of 10 men from my church going to do in May? In the overall picture of things, not a whole lot. Yes, we have some projects with the children’s home, to work along side some of the local Haitian workers to work on the children’s home and do some building projects. (This is because we work with them, because they are more than capable, know the building down there, and it employs them.) But after 7 days of work, Haiti is still poor. People are still hungry. People are still in tents. This isn’t to say what we are doing is worthless and that we shouldn’t do anything, but STMs are a lot about perspective.
I was in Haiti on a vision trip with a friend last March. It was different, because I wasn’t with our mission the entire time. I was able to ask some awesome people at the Heartline Guesthouse some questions about STMs. One of the answers I got about short term teams has stuck with me. Sitting at dinner, I asked three of the Heartline employees about STMs and the best thing an STM team should know before going on a trip abroad. One answer that has blown my mind said, “I am completely against STMs. But if it weren’t for an STM I wouldn’t be in Haiti today.” That blew my mind, because honestly, we’re not doing everything right. In fact, there are a lot of horror stories with missions trips where people go in as the great, white, American answer that will fix poverty. They build a house, high five, get pictures, and go home thinking they did something great. They never return, they put a star by their name, they post sad pictures and say, “Oh God, help them!” I know all of this, because that was me.
Now, I have begun to understand how STMs are changing me. They’re for me. This is okay, but it opens up a megaphone for God to scream to me about my life, His Kingdom, and the Gospel. But the truth is, if they’re for us, we would be greatly messed up if we don’t seek to do them properly. We should seek to do them where they are for us, but we are still impacting those abroad. Not just with good intentions, but to understand the long term effects of our being there. To understand that we are not the answer, but restoring relationships with Creator and man is the answer. That when we take stuff in, we hurt the people instead of helping.
Slowly, God is exposing the wrong heart I had while doing STMs. It’s a long, slow, painful process. But it is the right thing.
As I plan a trip for May for our suburban St. Louis church I have fear. I have fear that when we go, we’re going to do something stupid. Not like starting a fight with a local gang, but instead, like messing up a life with our good natured American intentions. It’s a long process that is changing me, but I pray my study will be fruitful.
As we go in May, our projects will be slight building under the instruction of Vigor, our mission’s mason. More details regarding this project are coming soon.
Likewise, our church is supporting our children’s home where we are hoping to do some renovations and purchase mattresses and build beds for each student. They all have beds, but some share with another student. This is a great need. We will be buying mattresses in Haiti, having the beds built in Haiti by a metal worker. Our men will simply be exposed, with hopefully the right attitude of service to God, to what God has been doing in Haiti for hundreds of years.
If you would like to donate to our children’s home, whether to sponsor a student at $30 a month, or just a one-time gift to help furnish beds, mattresses, or updated renovations to the home, please donate on the PayPal link above.
What do I do in Haiti? I haven’t fully figured it all out. And as I try, I just hope I do it well.
