First Hand Stories from Haiti

My brother is a Chaplain with the U.S. Navy, currently assigned to the Coast Guard. He has been deployed to Haiti to help with the relief efforts there. What follows is a glimpse of what is happening there from his eyes; A view that most likely will never be told in the media. This is directly from one of his emails to my sister-in-law:

"It may seem small in comparison but our little clinic has evacuated over 200 people. I can’t tell you the number of lives that have probably been saved because of the efforts of our folks here. Our Coast Guard helicopters pack in as many people as they can, sometimes seven or eight or more people. What they can’t fit in a seat or on a stretcher, they put in their laps.

These people are so resilient. For years they have been subjected to whatever comes their way, either man made or nature related and they survive. I watched little children with sever wounds be worked on with no pain medicine or anesthesia and not even whimper. One lady with a severe head trauma, along with multiple other wounds, have her scalp opened up and cleaned of gang green, she never flinched, and then when it was all done she got up and walked out of the clinic! They are grateful for Tylenol…something we take everyday. It is absolutely amazing.

They are so open to prayer and a kind smile or a look of compassion. While most of our people wore a mask I couldn’t bring myself to wear one most of the time because I wanted them to see my face and know that I hurt with them and cared about them. One boy about 8 or 9 came in with a bad head wound; when they were done working on him they asked who brought him in. He said no one…his parents were killed when his house collapsed. He sat on the steps for two days, I don’t know what happened to him after that. I can only pray a relative found him and took him in. An 85 year old woman was carried in over the shoulders of a 15 year old kid. When we asked what happened he said the nursing home she was in collapsed…she was the only survivor. He just found her and brought her in. I didn’t think she was going to make it. As I prayer over her I asked God that if he were to take her to do it quickly, but if not to begin restoring her health. Three days later we were able to medivac her. Part of me couldn’t believe she lived the other part just stood in amazement at God’s faithfulness.

One more I will tell you about. A beautiful young woman in her early 20’s was brought in with multiple injuries. She had with her a handsome well built man who looked to be slightly older then her. After she was treated I watched for three days how this man sat with her, laid her head in his lap, helped her move around, find her food. His gentle care for her was incredible to watch. I eventually made it over to them and offered to pray for her…they were excited about this idea. I assumed this was his wife so I asked him if I could pray for his wife and he said “no, no, this is my daughter.” I was moved to tears at that point as I made the connection. The love of a father has no limits, not age, not injury, not circumstances…"

Take a moment and think about it how much more does our Heavenly Father do this for us. Let's not take it for granted?