Hurricane Matthew through the Eyes of Job

“Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden; whom God has hedged in?  For sighing comes to me instead of food; my groans pour out like water.  What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me.”  Job 3:23-25

As pictures and reports of the situation on the southern peninsula of Haiti come in, we are beginning to realize that, like the earthquake of 2010, Hurricane Matthew will be a disaster that will define a generation of the people of towns like Jeremi, Les Cayes, Saint Louis de Sud, Port-a-Piment, Tiburon and all the places in between.  Many more in places that were not directly hit have lost their crops and had their homes severely damaged.  2016 will be a year marked by great grief and suffering.  It will be many days before we learn just how much was lost since cell-phone towers and roads have been destroyed.

The words of Job seem to encapsulate the emotions of seeing so much suffering and loss among a people so accustomed to suffering and loss.  Why?  Why do earthquakes and hurricanes without number continue to decimate this small country whose people are so vulnerable to the power of nature?  We will never forget the fall of 2008 when four hurricanes and tropical storms pounded Haiti, one after another (Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike), flooding several Haitian cities and causing untold damage.  Two years later, the earthquake of 12 January, 2010, the greatest natural disaster in Haiti’s history, killed hundreds of thousands in greater Port-au-Prince.  Now, six years later, Hurricane Matthew has delivered a crippling blow to the southwest of Haiti.  All of these natural disasters (and a few in-between like Hurricane Sandy) have all happened in the eleven years of our time in Haiti.

The answer God gave Job’s question remains harsh to the ear—“How can mortal men and women understand the mysterious council of the eternal God who formed the seas, the mountains, and the storms?” (chs. 38-41)  We will never be able to understand why God permitted yet another calamity to befall the Haitian people.  Yet as we sit in silence with Job, our thoughts turn to the Son of God who became man (Jesus Christ) and suffered tempests, betrayal, torture, and finally death.  Perhaps the only answer to the suffering of Haiti is not to answer at all; but rather to witness God in the person of Christ suffering with the people he loves.  And perhaps we too have some small role in showing this self-giving love to Haiti’s people.

For those who would like to donate, please consider World Renew (http://www.worldrenew.net/our-stories/world-renew-haiti-staff-assess-damage-hurricane-matthew), the disaster response organization of the CRCNA.  In the coming weeks, we hope to propose several small projects to World Renew to help affected communities that we have served with our long-term church development and training projects.

Pictures below were taken by our neighbor Tim Schandorff of Mission Aviation Fellowship