I Left My Heart in Petit Paradise (part2)

I fell in love with the people of Petit Paradise almost instantly and the children that surrounded you constantly, quickly found their way to my heart. Our group did a medical clinic in the church, medical clinic hut-to-hut, children's VBS, and women's Bible study over a two day span. Looking at all the villages in hindsight, Petit was definitely at the top with the most malnourishment even though the village is now part of a meal program for the school children. The biggest plea from people there was, "muen graw goo" (I'm hungry) and this was also the village where the babies were sitting in the dirt eating pebbles and dirt. Automatically we pulled out whatever we had in our backpacks and removed the rocks and replaced it with granola. This was a sight that I too shall never forget. Why are children on one continent obese and the others are left to eat dirt to make themselves 'feel full'? Even when some of the toddlers made their way over to get some of this granola the first thing that they would do was give their first bite to the younger babies...we are talking 3 and 4 year-olds! You would never see that kind of selflessness, love, and sacrifice back home, much less from such little ones. If the same scenario were presented to American children you would see the opposite demonstrated, there would definitely be fighting and an unwillingness to share. I was blown away by this as were some of my group members. I think that this little gesture says an enormous amount about the camaraderie in Haitian culture. To me this simple yet profound act carried out between babes could teach the world a much needed lesson. I have seen this same selfless behavior more times than I can count throughout this trip, and to me it says, "We are in this together" and that they truly are living out what many of us only proclaim in church on Sundays. To treat one another as we would want to be treated...ring any bells? So often our actions speak much louder than our lives so polluted with words. Throughout my life this has always been something I have replayed in my head, "Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words."(St Augustine?)I am not sure if it has done me any good but it still serves as a constant reminder none-the-less. I love that statement because it really makes one put their life under the microscope and realize just how often we are falling short in thought and deed. Seeing such acts of love from such small children really was enough to bring you to tears and humble you beyond what you thought possible.

How is it that one can fall so madly in-love with a group of people and so quickly? I cannot even begin to express what it was like to say goodbye to everyone there, especially the children. All of their faces will forever reside on my heart and in my mind. You could hear them calling your name and waving as we drove out of sight into the distance and literally I could feel my heart breaking. There is no doubt that a piece of my heart shall always reside there in that petite village that really was so much more than paradise.

"'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?' He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: " I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.'" (Matthew 18:1-4)