Where was Jesus? | Hurricane Matthew, Update 8

We saw it coming last week. Television tracked the Category 4, once-in-a decade Hurricane Matthew for days before it hit southwest Haiti. 

We’ve seen the destruction. Coastal towns stripped as bare as a battlefield.

We know the need. Hundreds dead. Tens of thousands lost their homes. Hundreds of thousands without food or clean water.

Joe Knittig and others have been on the ground since the airport in Port-au-Prince re-opened last Wednesday. They have seen firsthand what the press has shown the rest of us, but unlike secular media, Joe doesn’t just have eyes for the storm. He also has eyes for the Savior.

He has seen Jesus in the decisions of local pastors, like Jean and Dony, saving lives by evacuating children to higher ground before the storm.

During the storm, roofs held, keeping the children safe, and hugs from caregivers kept them secure as the weather roared just outside their door.

After the storm passed, Jesus opened other kinds of doors to line up helicopters and planes for air drops of food and water to stranded communities of church and children.

Jesus is in the hearts of people like you and more than a hundred others, who are giving generously to make it all go. He is in the faithfulness of house mamas, living in temporary facilities, but back at the 24/7 job of parenting.

“In this world you will have trouble…”

Joe walked through the devastated orphan village at Jeremie, where the hurricane tried to take everything. It failed . . . 

A text from Joe: And here is what lifted my spirit like you cannot believe . . .

The most treasured possession of these children is often a picture. A simple picture . . . of someone from far away who came . . . and sees a little child for who she really is in God’s eyes. 

A photo gets snapped, printed, and given to the child. And that is a treasure.

These treasures from Long Hollow Baptist Church to these children were strewn all around the mountainside. Cut in shards. Cut because metal roofs turned to razor blades in the tornado of a hurricane, ripping apart life. Ripping apart treasures.

So, I found so many pieces of treasure.

Here are two…

“But take heart, I have overcome the world.” – Jesus (John 16:33)

And then I found one half of a treasure with a young lady named Holly Ann.

A bit later, I found the other half of the treasure.

Put ’em together, and this is it: 

This is the real story.

If you want to see Jesus, don’t look up at all the stuff. Look down to a low place.

As we move into the second week, our focus in southwest Haiti will begin to transition from relief to redevelopment; from feeding children to getting them back into their homes, but before we talk about budgets and buildings, we worship Beauty in brokenness. 

Where is Jesus? He is in the ashes, where He always is; pulling the pieces together, like He always does. He is using memories of the past to point to better days to come. For all who have eyes to see, He promises a new home. In Him is restoration, hope, and a future.

To contribute financially to GO Haiti relief and redevelopment efforts, please direct your gifts to the Haiti Relief Fund.