One Month Later…

It has been one month since the Restavek Conference.  The conference itself, as i said before, was an overwhelming success.  We pulled off everything, from logistics to content, almost flawlessly.  The people showed great signs of motivation and interest in this cause.  We even saw a unique miracle as a sign of their self-motivation.  What was that miracle? It was the first Haitian event that I ever took part in in which all of the invitees arrived EARLY (yeah, that’s right… early!… in Haiti!).  We started on time & ended on time.  We started with Tifane’s beautiful song, went into a welcome, heard a couple of talks, and went right into the panel discussions.  The panels ran smoothly up through Mrs. Sixto’s lunchtime speech, and we topped off the conference with Jean-Robert’s moving and challenging speech.  God’s hand was in every detail.

As for me, it was an honor for me to stand before 500+ leaders of various sectors in the nation, speaking on behalf of 300,000+ children who have no voice.  As the emcee of the event, I too had a chance to share my heart about the issue and challenge people to take personal responsibility for the plight of these children.  This great opportunity came after weeks of speaking out for them on television and radio; an honor and a privilege that I had not yet imagined for myself.  It was truly a divine opportunity.

I did not get to take part in all of the panels because I was moderating the religious panel.  I heard great reports from all of the rest, but after spending four sessions with a Pastor, a Priest, and a Hougan (vodou priest) speaking on the same panel about the same issue, I must say that our panel was the most significant… the most miraculous (I may be a bit biased).  Never has it been seen or heard of in Haiti for three men from these three domains to sit together peacefully to discuss anything of substance.  They not only sat peacefully, but they supported one another’s statements, they laughed together, and they genuinely enjoyed one another’s company.  They came representing sectors filled with differences and known for fiery confrontations, but they left as friends united by a common purpose.

That was the miracle of the Restavek conference.  Men and women came from all over the country (and even different parts of the world), from different walks of life, different social and economic statuses, and from different domains of work and they became united toward a single cause: the children, the future of our nation.  Everyone left encouraged and motivated, and I truly felt that the nation is finally ready to start taking some steps toward change.

So what has happened since?  Our office has spent several weeks catching up to our own program, paying more attention to our own children.  Still every week I am receiving calls and emails from excited organizations and individuals telling us about their ideas and efforts.  Many of them need some help and direction getting started and I always wish we could do more for them at the moment, but our own children are our priority for now.  We are still a very small organization, despite the big splash that we made at the conference, and our resources, especially our human resources, are limited.  At times I have been a bit discouraged to see so much momentum yet be so limited in our ability to keep it rolling, but from what I see, the issue is still fresh in the minds of all of our attendees .  The fire is still burning, and it won’t go out any time soon.  I am fully confident that we will be able to contact anyone on our list of attendees, even in a few months, and enlist their full participation.  I believe that the conference had that much of an impact.

I have already called upon the members of my church who were in attendance, and we are now planning a campaign to root out this system in our church and in the surrounding community.  Their enthusiasm is greater than it was on day one because they have been thinking about the issue ever since, and they came ready with some great ideas for a very smart campaign.  This will be the first of many to come.  Hopefully it will become a model to be replicated in other churches and neighborhoods around the country.  The media campaign is still in the planning phases, but we have some great ideas flowing…

Why does all the good stuff always happen when I am just getting ready to leave the country…?  I only have 35 days left.  Booo…

The Time is Right for Change

According to Joan, the movement officially began on Sunday, and I don’t think myself to be egoistic to agree.  On Sunday, May 17, I did not speak.  God really did deliver His message through me.  For too long we, as a people, have been self-focused.  Most of us do not know how to truly love our neighbors by “giving our lives” for them.  We should give our lives, not by dying for one another, but through living to serve one another.  We hardly realize that it is the latter that is more difficult.

There is a potential miracle that exists in an ear of corn.  One could eat the ear today and be hungry tomorrow.  But if one were to plant the 200-400 grains of corn on the cob instead, in a few months he would find 1000-2000 new ears.  Our lives are like those seeds.  If we invest every bit of ourselves into our own “stomaches” today, our investment will die with us tomorrow and there will be no evidence that we ever existed (read my post on “Signs of Life“).  On Sunday, God challenged all of us to plant our lives into one another.  To plant ourselves into something greater.  To plant our lives into a secure future.  To plant our lives into children.  The time has come for us to stop eating the seed that represents our own lives and looking for others to devour when we are still hungry.  It is time for us to stop looking for a child to help us and look to invest ourselves into them.  I believe that God himself has declared an end to exploitation and is calling for a change of hearts.

If I had delivered the message three Sundays ago, as originally planned, it would not have been the right time.  Not only was the time right this past sunday and people were ready to receive it, but everything was aligned perfectly with Radio Lumière so that all of Haiti could hear it live, and even Haitians in foreign nations could heard it and responded.  Judging by the way that the message was received, I can tell that we are ready for change.  But we must keep preaching this gospel to give people the vision for change and confidence to change.  We need to preach it all over the country.  For that, we need messengers.  This Saturday at the “Mwen Se Ayiti Tou” conference (“I Am Haiti Too”), the messengers will be inspired.  We have leaders from all corners of Haitian society, from all 10 departments, that are coming to take part.  We have chosen leaders that can speak.  Leaders that people will listen to.  On Saturday their eyes will be open to the truth and on Sunday they will be sent out to preach this gospel.  Its time to plant ourselves, invest our lives into Haiti’s neediest children.  Our hope as a nation is wrapped up in their very own.

The Most Important Work Has Begun

You may be wondering what is going on with the other work that I do… the work with the children in the church.  In short, the last few months have been great.  I am very pleased to see how our children’s ministry has developed over the last few years.  I still need more hands to help, especially men, but the groups that we formed are truly developing and taking on the character of the individuals that take part in the groups.  The children are learning, growing, and developing, and I am very happy.

However I spent most of the last few months observing and scheming (the good kind) for the future.  In a dream in May of 2007 God gave me a glimpse of what these children can and will become for Haiti and the world, and I am aiming for that mark, a mark that is much higher than most would imagine when they imagine the purpose and depth of a children’s ministry.  Without going into the dream, it would be very hard to explain, so I will say (with faith) that if you watch and read for long enough, you will see it for yourself (and I believe soon).  So that you can get a glimpse, read the following entry from my journal from a Bible Study that I did with a group of children yesterday.  This group is a group of hand-selected, 10-14 year-old “disciples” that I will have with me for the next four months, pouring into them everything that I know.

Yesterday was quite possibly the most important moment of my ministry so far.  I had my first Bible Study with my kids.  What I showed them was nothing “cute” or “childish.”  I shared with them deep spiritual truth.  The best part is that they really seemed to get it.  They really, really did… and they LOVED it.

We talked about the Purpose of Man within the scheme of creation.  (Light subject, I know…).  I showed them how each day of creation prepared the earth for what would come next.  Light was created first because nothing can exist without light.  Land and sea separated in preparation for a diversity of vegetation and creatures.  Vegetation came forth in preparation for creatures.  Seasons were created to prepare for creatures whose navigation and behaviors change in response to the seasons and times of the month.  Then came birds, fish, and creatures on the ground… and on the sixth day: MAN.

I had the children reflect for a moment.  They meditated on the scriptures and each came up with their own questions about it.  Most of their questions were answered by other children, not myself.  They were on a roll with these questions and answers, but I stopped them in order to ask my own question and open their eyes to something deep and wondrous.  My question: If everything that is created on a given day is a preparation for the days that would follow, then for what was man created?  All of the rest of creation was a preparation for something else… What was man a preparation for?

We chewed on that one for quite awhile, talking about how man was created to rule over the earth with God’s character (Gen 1:26), but I told them to think along the same logic that we applied for the rest of creation.  Day six was the creation of man, day seven was God’s day of rest… What are we here for?  We started to talk about God’s rest.  I pushed them on to debate amongst themselves “where can God rest comfortably?”  To GOD, what is so special about the heavens?  What is so special about the earth?  He created them both.  Can there ever be a place that is really good enough for him to rest in?  Then one of them made a comment that made me think of Isaiah 66:1-2:

“Thus says the LORD: Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”

They were on the right track, so I told them to listen closely and I let them have it…  “Man was created on the sixth day so that God could find a place to rest on the seventh.  Man was created for God’s pleasure and to experience the pleasure of God.” Their eyes lit up.  They smiled… their mouths opened wide, yet they were speechless.  They Got it… God opened up their spirits and deposited the first of many treasures into their hearts.  It was suddenly real to them that they were created to KNOW the God of all creation.

We didn’t talk much afterward.  There wasn’t much else to say.  It was a time to reflect.  I had them each pull out their notebooks and had them do their first Journal entry.  They wrote down their revelations and reflections for more than 15 minutes, filling entire pages, and their reflections were beautiful and so very sincere.  I told them that their journals were for their eyes only, unless they chose to share.  Two decided to share what they wrote, and suddenly I became the student (just as God promised in my dream).

“After what I just learned I can see clearly that God’s desire is to be at home in my heart.  That is why I ask that he forgives me of all of the wrong that I do.  I ask him for strength so that I can walk straight, and I ask for wisdom so that I can continue to go deeper into his word and learn what is pleasing to him.  I know that if I stay at his feet I will find all that I need, desire, and ask for…”

“After learning how much God did to prepare a place for me to find all that I need so that I can live well and to be comfortable, what else could I do but make my heart a comfortable and beautiful place for him to live?  It’s the least that I could do for a God that is so good to me.  I want to do all that I can to prepare my heart to be a home for him.  I know that with his help, I can and will arrive at my goal to please Him…”

At this, Brian Clark (a ZHOP prayer warrior who is here with me this week) congratulated them on “knowing more than 99% of the American Church.”  After they shared their reflections, we worshiped and prayed, just as we did before we began.  The first time was great, but this time as we sang “Lord, I give you my heart…” there was a deep, solemn sincerity that can only come from a revelation of the goodness of God.

So if you are wondering what I am really up to in Haiti… there you have it… yet somehow in all actually, only a small part of it…  Please pray for me and pray for my little ones.

Imitation = Flattery + Humility

This morning I had another precious, eye-opening moment with my children.  Toward the end of every service, after the sermon has been preached, we always ask if there is anyone in the crowd that would like to make a first-time commitment to follow Jesus Christ.  I used to pray with the team that received these people at the front of the sanctuary, until I realized that whenever I did, children would come only because they wanted to receive prayer from me.  They would even return again days or weeks later, not to receive Christ again (as if that could be done), but to be prayed for by me.

I don’t really mind praying for this children over and over (for other reasons), but I wanted every decision to follow Christ to be sincere, so I decided to remove myself from this particular prayer group and I found a way to pray from a distance.  Now, every time that this call is being made, I take my place on a ledge that is just off of the right side of the stage and next to the first pillar that holds up the second floor of the stands.  I stand there and stretch out my hands to pray for those who are coming to make this new commitment.  This morning, as I was praying with my eyes closed and with my left hand extended, I felt a little hand grab onto my right hand.  I opened my eyes to find a line of three or four little boys standing on my ledge, with their hands stretched out and their eyes closed, just like mine were, and the one holding my hand was looking up at me smiling as he copied me.

It was a very precious moment, but it was also very sobering to realize how closely these children are watching my every move…  “Oh be careful little hands what you do…“  Children are very impressionable and they are very impressed by you…  Use that power for good.

Learning to See Invisible Children

All of last week, I interviewed children that are a part of the JRC Restavec Foundation‘s schooling program.  The JRCRF partners with various pastors and schools (mainly in Port-au-Prince for the moment) to find children who are in domestic servitude (“Restavec” children), and ensure that they are receiving, at the least, an education.  As we interview the children periodically we also learn of other ways that we can help and serve them.

After a week of interviews with children in horrible situations, children who beside their physical, emotional, and spiritual trauma, are otherwise normal, I have a strange sense of heightened awareness.  There are about 300,000 Restavec children in Haiti.  Haiti only has 8 million people.  That means  that it is nearly impossible to live in Haiti, especially in Port-au-Prince, and never encounter a Restavec or someone who “owns” one.  Still, most people are unaware, or perhaps voluntarily ignorant of their presence.  I am now more aware of their presence, but unlike Jean-Robert Cadet, who could probably quickly find the only two Restavecs that are in a crowd of children, my eye is not yet trained to see them.

To this day, I can only easily see the distinctions between the well-off and the impoverished, but after speaking to some Restavecs, looking them in the eyes (with the split second glances that they felt comfortable giving me), listening to their heartbreaking stories, and taking note of some of their mannerisms as they spoke, I am beginning to learn that there are some clear distinctions between poor children and Restavec children.  If you’ve been to Haiti, even for a short visit, you may have even met one.  Your response may have been just like mine: “What a poor, unfortunate little girl.  I really wish I could help her.”  If only you knew how poor and how unfortunate that she was, you would do more than wish.

Today I find myself looking closer at these children.  The little boy that I always see carrying a bucket of water that is heavier than he is… who sent him?  His mom or his “gran moun” (his adult)?  The little girl that wears three quarters of a pair of sandals and stays at home doing chores at an hour when most children are in school… are her parents too poor to dress her well and send her to school or is she among the 300,000 children that are neglected, beaten, mistreated, and worked like animals every day?  I don’t know.  But I care.  So should my neighbors who also watch her shuffle down the street, always silent, always dejected, always working, never playing.  But it is almost as if no one actually sees her.  She has effectively faded into the background as a part of the normal scene of abject poverty.

But to be a Restavec is much worse than to be impoverished.  As a Restavec, your “gran moun” may simply decide that you won’t eat today.  No real reason, as far as you know.  Maybe its because you are such a terrible, worthless, bastard child who’s father had good reason to reject you… just as she always tells you.  And tomorrow she might leave you home alone for three days.  Don’t expect her to let you know in advance, and especially don’t expect to find money left for you to buy food or even a key to the pantry, which is abundant in food.  As a Restavec, you may find yourself awakened by the crack of a whip… or worse: the sting of an extension cord striking your nearly bare back, tearing the remainder of the rags that you use for clothing.  As a Restavec, you may be awakened by something even worse.  Male or female, you  might awaken to find someone else’s hand fondling your genitals, or someone using your hand to their own pleasure.  You may find yourself to be the concubine of the teenage boy that lives in the house.  And of course you would never tell on him because you do not have the right to speak unless spoken to.  And besides, you are his property anyway.  You have no voice.  You have no say.  You have no rights.  You are a Restavec.  No one knows that you exist.  And if they did, you doubt that they would care.

As graphic as that last paragraph may seem, it is not a fabricated or embellished story.  It was pieced together by some of JRC’s own experiences and some of the experiences that were described to me last week… by children.  This is their life.  Even if you are not in Haiti and never will be in Haiti, I ask you to open your eyes and see these invisible children.