TO MY PARTNERS in MINISTRY
to the PEOPLE of HAITI
March 22, 2020
H I S E Y E I S O N T H E S P A R R O W
Nestled in the dense leaves and branches of the orange tree that is rooted next to our front porch is the nest of an Ortolan Bunting. The sighting of the nest jarred me away from thoughts of the coronavirus and washed over my being like a wave of peace and normalcy. Each day, I try to bring myself back to that kind of peace by observing the comings and
goings from the nest. Mama Bird faithfully warms the eggs beneath her, until Papa Bird relieves her of her watch. He allows her to get a break from the role of egg-warmer and frees her up to fly about and to search for food. Each parent takes turns for an equal amount of time. Neither parent shirks his/her duty, but does what nature has taught them to do. There is something calming about the watching of such an activity, an event that is totally untouched by the uncertainty of the world that we are currently living in. I found myself wanting to have that same kind of bliss - the bliss of going on with life unencumbered by what is shaking the world around me.
Have you ever gone through a medical crisis within your family or the loss of a loved one and while your whole world was crashing down, you noticed the rest of the world kept going on as if nothing earth-shattering was happening?!?!? People are laughing. People are going to work. People are totally oblivious to the way your life has taken on a whole new perspective. The birds in the nest gave me this same sort of feeling. It reminded me of one of my favorite scripture passages found in Matthew 6:25-34 (NIV)...
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.
29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?
31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
In just the last few days, Haiti has received the news that coronavirus has arrived in this country. As in other countries, fear and panic are evident. People are rushing to buy
non-perishables that may sustain them through a long period of isolation. People are thronging to pharmacies and public markets and gas stations. People are suggesting all sorts of remedies and cures and many times, some people are forgetting to turn to God.
Haiti is a country that has its challenges even before a pandemic arrives. This is a country that has never fully recovered from recent earthquakes and hurricanes. It is a country that is currently riddled with kidnappings and violence. Medical facilities here are already either unavailable or inadequate and have always been poorly supplied. A large number of homes are substandard with overcrowding, lack of running water and electricity and sewage systems. Every day many of Haiti’s people struggle to find food to eat and funds to send their children to school. Haiti is fragile and is now faced with a situation that guarantees that the vulnerable will see hard times like they have never seen before.
When praying for the needs within your own family and your own country, please include prayers for those who face obstacles like Haiti is facing.
The fear and anxiety around us is almost touchable. It can shake our core. It can shake our faith. It can make us forget - almost - that we have a God who has it all figured out.
My prayer for you and for me is that we can back away from all of that is not in our control and know that we have a God “whose eye is on the sparrow”.
Nora Léon
Missionary to Haiti & the Dominican Republic Until next time, God willing …………