The last six years in Haiti have certainly come with their fair share of interesting experiences. Today, Zach got the opportunity to enjoy yet another new experience--being rear-ended by a Brazilian Armored Personnel Carrier operated by the United Nations (the picture above is another kind of tank used by the Sri Lanken UN contingent). For those of you who have never been rear-ended by a tank, it is actually not exactly an even match, even if you are driving a full-sized SUV with welded steel "cow-catcher" bumpers. One of the troops in the tank dismounted to apologize to him for the contact. Since he couldn't speak English or Haitian Kreyol, and Zach couldn't speak Portuguese, there was not a lot that could be said. Of course the other aspect was that his tank was bristling with machine guns and cannons and had one of its eight wheels amost ready to crush our Nissan like a cockroach. Suffice to say, the conversation was short! Luckily, the Brazilian tank rear-ended Zach's vehicle while it was inching along in bumper to bumper traffic. The steel bumper absorbed most of the shock and the damage was limited to the left taillight. That means that since purchasing the Nissan in 2010, it has been struck while stationary by a tank, a large water truck, one of our own mission vehicles, and a public taxi without brakes (as far as we know). Thankfully, none of these impacts have done a lot of damage thanks to God's grace and the steel bumpers we had welded onto the vehicle a few weeks after its purchase.

Moving Out

Everyday that we go into our mission office we are confronted with the reality of displaced people living at our doorstep. As we have mentioned to some of you, there is a "Internally Displaced Persons" camp in the cul-de-sac in front of our mission office of about 120 families. Since this camp sprung up a few months after the January 2010 earthquake, we have been scratching our collective heads in order to know what to do about it. For a long time now, aid organizations have been trying to avoid direct assistance in these camps to avoid providing a material incentive for more people to move in. The camps are very miserable places to live--no electricity, no running water, no security, and only fabric or at best cardboard over one's head. Recently, Christian Reformed World Relief Committee has made an effort to empty this camp by providing the inhabitants with $500 USD (this is a government mandated amount) to pay for rental housing in another location. Another $50 USD was given directly to the campers for travel and moving expenses. The vast majority of the families living in the camps have signed contracts with new landlords and are making plans to move out of the cul-de-sac. However, now that the campers have received their grant, they must move out immediately or risk the confiscation of their shelters and possessions by local authorities. Please pray that the campers would follow through with their arrangement and leave the camp as soon as possible. Pray also that they will have the wisdom to make preparations for next year, when their landlord will be demanding another $500 USD in rent and CRWRC will not be able to help them again.

He Is Not Here, He has Risen

According to Scripture, Jesus was crucified the day before the Jewish Sabbath, which was called the Day of Preparation (Christians call it Good Friday). Jesus' trial before the Sanhedrin (the Jewish ruling council) and Pilate took place in the early morning while it was still dark. Jesus was likely crucified at first light and he was dead well before noon. Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for Jesus body and had it placed in his tomb before sundown on Friday, which was the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath when no work could be done. That is why the women who were following Jesus had no time to embalm his body for burial and were obliged to come back to the tomb at first light on Sunday. Of course, when the women arrived, they found the large stone rolled away, the tomb empty and a man dressed in white who informed them: "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene who was crucified. He is not here, he has risen." Since Jesus' female disciples discovered the tomb empty at first light, it has been a tradition of Christians around the world to gather at first light on Easter Sunday to celebrate the Resurrection. Zach had a chance to drive to the top of the mountain overlooking Port-au-Prince on Easter morning. Besides celebrating the Resurrection, Zach joined in a prayer for the city of Port-au-Prince, the capital and center of political, economic and social life in Haiti. Besides the continuing effort to rebuild after the earthquake, Port-au-Prince faces huge struggles. There has been some investment in infastructure and some efforts to decentralize the population, but at the end of the day, there are over two million people trying to live in a very small and crowded space perched precariously on top of mountains, steep hills, and the edges of ravines. Many people have little or no access to potable water because they can't pay one USD for five gallons of treated water. There is the ever present danger of flooding as well (even a small rain can cause destructive flash flooding on hillsides). As we prayed for Port-au-Prince, the sun shown over the mountains to the southeast (see picture above), and the ultimate solution for Port-au-Prince became clear--the power of the Risen Son of God to deliver his people from the shadow of sin and the darkness of the Evil One. It is true that nature has her fury (which we all know), but the majority of our problems we make ourselves. Please pray for the power of Easter to bring new life to the Haitian people and those who minister among them.