It has been said, your story is not only what happened, but what did you tell yourself about it? When it comes to the incessant gang violence in Haiti, I sometimes wonder which stories to even tell myself. What do I tell myself when the impulsive thoughts are steeped in fear and uncertainty? Any ministry still operating in Haiti feels a bit like the Alamo, ours is no exception. What happens if we were to suddenly cease to exist? What happens to the refugees at our campus who have no other place to go? The news media does a good enough job of calamity reporting out of Haiti. I prefer stories aligned with what works towards a preferred future. 

For the first time in our ministry, this past week, I reluctantly began reading an evacuation plan for the New Life Campus in Haiti if gangs swarm from Port Au Prince and go after the Central Plateau. What becomes of the refugees or the 60 students and orphans NLI helps support to our west via the Agape resources set-aside from grants? Half way through the evacuation document, I had to pause reading. Haiti Gospel Mission, (HGM) when it fell to gangs, their only retreat, was to our place. It was April Hess of HGM, who first pointed out the harsh reality, “Duvon, NLI’s place is the Alamo, and if it falls there is no other place for my people to go or escape.” I hope she is wrong, but she has been in Haiti many more years than we have. It would break my heart if we ever have to leave. American, Jet Blue and Spirit airlines have suspended flights.

When I was in high school and college, my father Byron consciously invested in exposing us kids to positive thinking rallies to listen to various thought leaders of the day – Noman Vincent Peale, Paul Harvey, Robert Schuller, Zig Ziglar, and others who have since skipped my mind. Zig Ziglar came to mind a few days ago with the converging of three things about the same time. First, I received the NLI Haiti campus evacuation plan. Secondly, was someone gave me a book with a “Foreword” written by Zig Ziglar.  The third leg of the convergence was inspired by seeing Zig Ziglar’s name, and as a result, I looked up one of his quotes to share with our daughter Sanga in Nepal. Zig Ziglar’s perspective on fear resonates with me: ”F-E-A-R has two meanings – ‘Forget Everything And Run’ or ‘Face Everything And Rise.’ The choice is yours.”

There have been times when it was time to “run for your life”, and I did. Some of these things going on with gang violence have shaken my nerves where I am not so sure about courage being when you face your fears and rise. Whether anyone knows it or not, Blue Sky has a significant footprint in Haiti amidst a backdrop of uncertainty that is overwhelming to the risk-averse. To our west, Blue Sky funds have been informally supporting 47 orphans that quickly grew to 60 with educational investments and renting land to grow food. Food security is an ongoing challenge.  We have recently rented a larger parcel of land for 3-1/2 years so that the orphans have some minimal semblance of food security. One of the things I have learned the hard way in Haiti is things change at a glacial pace if they change at all. It would be funny to liken change in Haiti to that of a three-toed sloth on its lunch break. However, there is nothing funny about the failed state that is burning the futures of the young people faster than the cratered economy can convert the remaining trees into charcoal. My vison/dream … that long after you and I pass from this earth … people could see a giant green spot from planes and satellites radiating out from what you have set in motion south of Mirebalais … I don’t know … This might need to be passed by us to the next generation. 

So many faces come to mind in Haiti. Here are but a few who have affected my heart personally. Earlier this year, (not on our campus but at orphanage to our west that we help), a woman who works with orphan children and one of the orphan girls (15-years old) Catrine Noel, were kidnapped by a gang and held for some weeks. The things that happened to them were unspeakable. Catrine is now recovering, and your funds treated her for syphilis and other things … she made the decision (on her own) to not abort the resulting baby and to give it up for adoption and try to get back into school.  Of all the things in Haiti this situation makes the top five most difficult situations emotionally.

Chama is a young woman on our campus who faithfully operates the hypochlorous acid wound care solution manufacturing and distribution. Who knows how many infections she has helped cure. Tika is a little older than Chama and a very bright student, Blue Sky has been shadow funding her education for over 5 years, she is not sure what she wants to become. She has considered the medical field or possibly architecture. She is ready to go to a university if there were a safe way to leave the country and enroll.

I do know this, if we ever “run”, we might forget the things; but how could we ever forget the people?