Hope in the eyes of Haiti...

Disclaimer, the content of this post might be a little graphic and emotionally deep for younger audiences. Please use discretion before reading.

For those who did not know, I recently got back from Haiti. And I can't tell you how much it changed everything! All that I hold dear is no longer as important to me. All my problems and things that I let consume my mind are a distant memory to me now. When you see people living in such poverty yet raise their hands and still praise God, you won't ever be able to to look at life the same.

How much do you really know about hope? And how much does it truly affect you daily? Does hope consume your mind, does it change how you feel about the world? Does it transform your vision? Does it create light in your heart and joy in your soul?

Hope is something that lights up every aspect of your face, it is something that brightens your smile and leaves you glowing. Hope is something you can't explain to others, it is something that is shown through everything that you do and are.

Hope.

Hope is beautiful.

And there is hope in Haiti.

In the place you least expect hope you will find it stronger than ever.

Haiti is a beautiful country, full of warm and welcoming people, villages of children that will melt your heart. But Haiti is also lost. It is a country overtaken with voodoo and witchcraft, where your sacrifices to the witch are more important than food in your child's belly. It is a place that I could not leave without being heartbroken.

I often wondered while I was there, where the little girls I was holding would end up in three or four years... What would happen if their parents hit hard times and had to sell them into sex slavery to pay debts? Or worse yet, what if they felt that was the only way that their child could have a decent life?

What would you do if you were a little kid, living in a place ridden with trash and bugs and destroyed from an earthquake, where one little scrape could kill you literally, wondering where your next meal was coming from, and wondering what happened to mommy and daddy, why these strange men were beating you tonight when just yesterday you were playing in the village? You have no idea why you were abandoned and you have no where to go. There is no government to put you into any kind of home, no one cares if you live or die. You are simply another body breathing and taking up space and air and food. All you are wanted for is your body, every night beaten into submission until you are nothing more than a skeleton laying on the bed waiting for the next man to rip your little body to shreds.

Now imagine being a teenage girl about 15 and not having a period for a few months, not knowing whether or not you will live through childbirth. Half of the time it is either the mom or the kid who dies in childbirth if not both. Imagine not knowing who the father is, or worse yet him having nothing to do with you. You not only have to provide for a baby with at most a dollar a day in salary, if you even are lucky enough to have a job, but you also have to find a place to raise a child. You are scared, homeless, and alone. And there is no one to help. No shelter you can go to, no crisis pregnancy center, no financial aid, no food stamps. You have signed the death certificate of your child before you even sign the birth certificate. Can you imagine how that would feel? You are invisible and you are alone. You have nothing to give you hope.

Now look at your life right where it is at. Your problems probably and hopefully seem very small to you now. When I was in Haiti I had no access to drama AKA Facebook and Twitter. I did not even turn my phone on for a week. You want to know what I found? The less I was consumed with myself, the more my eyes were opened to other people and the hurts that they were going through. The more that I focused on others and not on my own issues, the more that mine paled in comparison. Not that what I was going through wasn't an issue to me or it still did not need to be dealt with, but it wasn't consuming. I could look at my life and see the bigger picture beyond my temporary frustration.

As I was holding a little girl by the name of Francesca,  I felt my heart beat in a way that it never had beaten before. I felt it beat to the pain and heartache of another.

I felt her life and her past just throb in my arms, I wanted to weep at her joy even though she was lighter than a 3 year old when she was probably close to 10 or 11. I wanted to hold her and love her, pour everything that I was into her frail little body, covered with nothing more than a thin t-shirt with holes. Her smile made my life seem so frivolous and ridiculous, all my worries and cares seem absolutely absurd. Her joy and her laughter made me see that I was but a fleeting breath, placed here for such a time as this. I have the opportunity to do so much for people and yet I do nothing.

As I told Francesca goodbye, my heart stayed with her. My love stayed with her. I miss her more than I would I miss my arm if it was cut off.

While in the midst of unthinkable poverty and destruction, the people of Haiti still have hope. They hope in a God that is bigger than we as Americans imagine Him to be. They hope in a God who does miracles and heals the sick and raises the dead to life. They put their hope in a God even when they have nothing to prove that He is there. They put their faith in the fact that when they pray, it will happen. It may not be today or tomorrow, but God will show up. They never lose their faith in God, they never lose hope. That hope is spreading from a few people in Haiti to everyone. That hope is contagious and it is growing, despite the grim circumstances that would put any of us here in despair. They have hope in God because He is all that they have and all that they need.

So I want to challenge you, put down your phone for a day and tune into people's lives for real. Take time to look into people's eyes, ask how they are, and truly listen. Take your siblings to the park and play with them, cherish the fact that they are healthy and have the ability to smile and laugh and run.

Learn from the kids and people in Haiti, have hope in even your darkest times. Smile when you are hungry, pray when you need help, and find joy and laughter in the smallest things in life. Give hope. You have been given so much in this life, stop complaining and realize that you have every reason to have hope.

Your life is but a breath. And you are more than blessed.

#ProjectYouAreHope