Called to love...Cities?

Zach spent a week in Guatemala City learning about urban ministry initiatives in November.  This picture, taken from the municipal cemetery overlooking the city dump where thousands of people make their living picking through garbage, encapsulates the enigma of poverty afflicting both Port-au-Prince and Guatemala City.

Guatemala City has many talented graffiti artists just like Port-au-Prince.

Quite often those who live in cities wish that they don't.  First, cities are expensive.  Food, housing and transportation are many times more what they would be in a small town or countryside.  Second, cities are congested.  Traffic is horrible and it is hard to find living space.  Finally, cities often suffer higher rates of violence and crime because of both high population density and their attraction to those struggling to survive.  It is true that cities can sometimes offer more opportunities for economic advancement.  However, more and more people compete for the same opportunities in cities.  Our city, Port-au-Prince, is a good example.  With nearly ten times the population of Haiti's second largest urban area, Port-au-Prince is overwhelmed by the nearly constant inflow of new residents.  Port-au-Prince's roads and infrastructure were designed for a city one-quarter of its size.  In Haiti's countryside hedgerows of cactus keep goats and pigs out of gardens.  In Port-au-Prince fifteen-foot-tall block walls topped with razor wire keep thieves at bay.  Billowing waves of dust, diesel exhaust, the smells of 2.5 million people living without a sewage system daily greet inhabitants.  Why even live in the big city?  The answer?  2.5 million.  Jonah learned the same lesson at the end of chapter four when God said, "And should I not have concern for the great city Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left?"  God cares about the city because the city is where his children are being born, living, rejoicing, suffering, and dying.  As we are reminded in the story of Jesus' birth, God (or Emmanuel--'God with us') wants to be where his people are.  Over the next year, we plan to put more focus on urban ministry in Haiti.  Please pray for us as we seek to be God's witness in Haiti's largest city.