Today is my last full day in Haiti. Yesterday, the community celebrated the 51st anniversary of the hospital, which also happens to be the 100th birthday of Larimer Mellon, the late founder of the hospital. The whole day was filled with festivities, including a ceremony, live music, and soccer matches with the neighboring town. The patients at the clinic were the guests of honor, and one of them, a very talented young guy named Leon performed a rap song that he wrote and produced. His hope is to promote awareness and understanding on behalf of people that have disabilities. Leon lost his left leg to cancer two years ago. The performance was awesome.
This morning, I went to the local Baptist church with our clinic translator that is also a believer. He is actually studying to be a pastor. Although the sermon and songs were in Kreyol, it was good to pray and worship together. "Great is thy Faithfulness" was one of the songs, and I sang along in English. I loved how everyone sang full-force. It brought to my mind a moment in the clinic this past week. It was late afternoon, and most of the patients had already departed. A sad, bluesy song came on the radio, and all activity stopped as everyone joined in to sing. Some people closed their eyes. The only word I could recognize was "alleluia," but I could feel that they were singing from the depths of their souls. I felt like my heart was breaking as I reflected on how much pain these people have gone through--they lost their mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, friends, homes, jobs, and limbs. In spite of horrible tragedy, there's incredible faith.
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robyn... i loved reading about this and everyone singing together in the clinic... steph had a similar experience at one of the hospitals that she was at during her time in haiti... i loved reading about the same kind of event here... praising God in the midst of suffering.
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