Create in me a Clean Heart .. Psalm 51

There is a Haitian prayer that goes something like this:

Lord,

Please don't make us get all cleaned up

Only to return once again to the dirt.

Until you've been here, I'm not sure you can really understand. There is trash eveywhere. The pigs wallow in it. The children play in it. The dogs scavage for food in it. Occassionally you'll smell it burning. Often you'll see a kind old man or a quite little child sweeping it to the side with an old broom made of straw. You can't escape it.
Animal feeces are everywhere you step, so watch out. Even humans, women and men, young and old, will stop, crouch and relieve themselves along the side of any road without shame. There is just no way to get clean.

The other day I saw Lanaud on his bike coming from work. He is one of our dear Haitian friends that hangs out on the compound, speaks wonderful English and of course is willing to do the beer run for the guys. He works at a local farm for an American named Andy and as I invited him over to play cards he said " I was just getting water for my shower and I'll be right over." And I looked to see a 5 gallon container that he had just filled from the well. Even this young man who I see everyday, that speaks wonderful English and always is so clean and neat... he too showers from a bucket from water drawn from a well. For some reason, probably to protect myself from the Haitian reality, I thought he lived like we do here on the compound, fans, showers, running water, flushing toilets and electricity. It's funny how the mind works isn't it?

And if for some reason, say you are a "crazy blanco', and you feel as if you must take showers and use powders to absorb body sweat and wear smelly perfumes, then you become the most popular magnet for mosquitoes, gnats and all sorts of bugs I can't name. I've heard Pere Bruno say many times, "If you think you smell bad, just go stand next to a Haitian." Regardless within a 20 minute time period, it was all for naught. We return back to the sweaty world of Haiti once again.

It is truth down here. This messy dirty part of reality. It manifests itself in many ways. Oftentimes it is as smelly and nauseous as a laborer in the fields that hasn't showered in days and othertimes it is a quiet persistent odor that has matured over time, muted only by familiarity. Our worlds may seem eons apart, but really not all that different. Imagine a life where you are constantly dirty. Imagine being constantly in the filth of humanity with no hope of fresh air or clean water. Our lives are no different than theirs.

We've put on a facade. We've covered ourselves with perfumes and scented lotions yet still the stench of sin is everywhere. It seems so obvious here, how to get clean and all. Just feed the hungry and clothe the naked. It's quite simple really... just dig a well and heal the sick. Here, each one of us gets cleaned up a little bit. We visit the orphans and deliver much needed supplies. It's who we are called to be. In the dirt and filth of Haitian humanity, we are cleansed in a new way, a real way not visible to human eyes. But God sees and God knows.

My hope and prayer for each member of this mission team and the one to come is that we carry a piece of the Terrier Rouge dirt in our hearts and on our minds in the days, weeks and years to come. My prayer is that we aren't clouded by the filth of business as usual or the way it used to be. Though our bodies tell one story, may our hearts tell another, both here in Terrier Rouge and in Warrenton as well.

Like the Haitians I too can pray their prayer...

Lord,

Please don't make me get all cleaned up

Only to return once again to the dirt.

"Create in me a clean heart O Lord, and renew a right spirit within me"
                                                                                                                             Psalm 51:10