Bel

The word in Creole for beautiful is bel.

As a hurricane / tropical storm tears through the Caribbean, as poverty rages on in Haiti, why am I writing about beauty?   What is beautiful about watching parents bring their children to a home to be treated for malnutrition and preventable diseases, or spending your afternoon with disabled children receiving few of the interventions and adaptations that could make their lives easier?

Here are the beautiful things I saw today:

-Haitians worshipping with great joy and enthusiasm at sunrise.
-Our team consoling crying babies, changing diapers and loving sick babies (yes, the men changed diapers too!)
-The Haitian parents who love their children so much that they leave them in the care of others because they do not have the means to care for them on their own.
-The loving care these babies received as they are nursed back to health.
-Beautiful Haitians everywhere I turned (how do they stay so well groomed coming out of tents and shacks?)
-Smiles and laughter from the disabled children who allowed us to play with them in the afternoon.
-The signs of faith everywhere I turn in Haiti.  "Thank you Jesus!" signs on trucks and buildings, unabashed praise and joy from the Haitians.
-Hearts of team members breaking for the same things that break the heart of Jesus.
-The pride, determination and hope I see in the eyes of the Haitians.

Beautiful.  Bel.

Peace,
Joyce