A huge part of what SMI does is build relationships with people in Guitton. One way they do this is have teams walk through the village and go door to door passing out rice and beans to families. But first we take as much time as possible getting to know them, asking questions, and hearing their story. We offer them the gift of rice and beans and ask if we can pray for them.
Adam was so good at this. People on the team were genuinely anxious about having conversations with strangers through a translator. But if you know Adam at all, you know that he's just naturally so good at connecting with people.
Anyways, one of the first houses we went to was actually the grandmother of our translator, Mackenzie, who happens to be the principal of the school in Guitton. He told us that she's been sick for months, and she can't talk. But he assured us that she'd be blessed by us coming in to talk to her.
We make our way to the back of the house, which mind you, is not even 20 steps from the front door. We find a woman, laying on a mattress on the ground that's probably 4 inches thick. To describe her as frail doesn't even begin to scratch the surface. She looks 80 easily, but she's only 65. She's been laying on this mat for nearly 7+ months. She's in too much pain to talk or move, really. She did sit up at one point, so she could spit up into a bucket.
A medical team came through back in April. They think she has a urinary tract infection. That's it. But the infection hasn't been treated, and the pain is literally crippling this woman. They gave her an IV, and that did alleviate the pain for a little bit. But it wasn't enough to rid her body of the infection. So, all to quickly, she found herself in pain again.
As we started to pray for this woman, I couldn't hold back the tears. Why is this woman bedridden for over 7 months because of a urinary tract infection? How is this possible? I wanted to sit with this woman the rest of the day. She reminded me of my Abuela when she was sick with cancer. That kind of frailty. That kind of pain. Because of a urinary tract infection.
Thankfully, we had a doctor on our team. Later in the week, she was able to give this precious grandmother another IV and enough antibiotics for 2 months.
Hers is one of the faces I see often when I think about Haiti. Hers is one of the ones that makes me so confused and try so hard to come up with a solution to all of the problems facing Haiti. She shouldn't have to suffer like that.
Yesterday at church, our pastor was teaching from Colossians 1. About how we were delivered from darkness and brought into a new Kingdom. Verses 15-20 talk about the preeminence of Christ, the image of the unseen God. And I kept thinking about these people in Haiti. Who many would probably agree that God is not visible, not tangible and perhaps even not present. When you're in the midst of that kind of suffering and desperation, I would imagine it could be hard to see God in your circumstances.
But we are the ones who should be making God visible. Not just in Haiti. But right here in Seattle. We are image bearers. We are a representation of this Kingdom. We're the ones called to make the reign of Christ seen in this world, in our love, and in our service to one another. Through our compassion and our kindness. It's not enough to live by some moral code; we are to be making God visible through our lives.
As I pondered these things throughout the day, my prayer was that God would make Himself visible in me. That compassion would move me to action. In all things, Christ preeminent.
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