this friday will mark the first month that i've (and, more appropriately, we've) been back in america since this trip took place.
i could write many things. and i'll write some of them. but what i will write here will surely betray, if not only in lack of completeness, then in lack of articulation, the sentiments and thoughts and deep-rooted feelings that sit in the chests of everyone who went with me to haiti last month.
in my time back in america, i've spent much of my time and money preparing for college.
my incredibly generous grandmother spent $200 dollars on me so that i could have new clothes as i depart for school.
this was not a necessity. i already had more clothes than i needed.
i spent nearly $500 on a computer for school, through which i am now typing this blog.
this was not a necessity. people lived for thousands of years before personal technology such as computers and cell phones became the norm of the contemporary world.
SO WHY AM I BEING BLESSED in such extravagant ways?
surely such a materialistic society has lost all semblance of grace, need for restoration, and connection to the spirit of god, working and reconciling and bringing hope?
surely america is a horrible place to be, when all that my heart desires is to feel and live and work in an environment such as the ones we experienced in haiti?
surely god is so much more alive in haiti than in america?
let such things not be said.
--
the other day i was on the way to a movie when i noticed a woman and her husband parked on the side of the road with steam coming out of their engine. i stopped and asked if they needed any help. i stood by and helped the husband pour water into the coolant reservoir of the car, holding a towel between the two of us and the gratuitous amounts of steam that came hissing out of the tap. eventually, the steam subsided, and the engine cooled enough for the couple to start their engine and make their way to a local autozone.
as i got back in my car, another man and another woman pulled over, asking, "hey pal, are you ok? do you need any help?"
god is moving in america.
--
this past weekend, the pastor (Kent Moore) of a small (40-person-congregation-small) local vineyard church body in savannah georgia graciously asked my brother and i and two of our friends to travel down and play music with them for their sunday morning gathering. we arrived in savannah saturday evening. after setting up some stuff, we went over to our kent's home, where we had dinner with him and his family and one of the lead worshippers of the church body. kent and his wife have been unable to have children, so they've chosen to adopt two local kids.
exciting news had just reached the vineyard that their associate pastor's family, who had been involved in an adoption dispute with an unstable birth mother, had just managed to win the rights to adopt the child. the child will be coming with them, to a safe, loving home, in but a few days.
god is moving in america.
--
i could give countless other examples, but the point is simply this:
god moves in haiti,
and god moves in america.
therefore,
the church is moving in haiti,
and the church is moving in america.
hope is coming up from out of the ground.
thanks for caring.
-simon
