Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Today We Eat

Seven flights in one week. I am a nerd for counting but 7 flights in one week has got to be a record, and being a pilot doesn’t count. I have flown from Calgary to Toronto to Miami to Port au Prince to Ottawa to Toronto to Miami back to Port au Prince. If there was ever a time where I was afraid to fly I cant remember it. It almost seems weird that I am not hurrying through customs, crossing my fingers through baggage check and waiting anxiously to take off or land.
I am so blessed to be working with this organization. I was lucky enough to spend the days between dropping the kids off in Ottawa and our flight out of Miami with some of the staff from GLA. As hard as this transition has been for them, they remain upbeat, positive and are simply a pleasure to be around. Everything they do, they do with a smile on their face and prove to me everyday what it truly means to be a servant of God. Whatever needs to be done they tackle it, so often seeing the bigger picture that I tend to miss.
Staying in Miami with our group of 6 girls we did some serious shopping. Knowing that we would have room to take supplies back with us we went to work in the aisles of Target, Walmart and even drove half the city of Miami searching for the Super Walmart. We loaded shopping cart after shopping cart with blankets, tarps, tents, and lanterns. We cleared the store shelves completely before heading to the checkout counter where people would literally stop and stare. I don’t think there is a single Rubbermaid container left in the whole state of Florida. Beans, rice and cooking oil were also on the list of essentials to bring back with us. We filled up the huge 8 passenger van we rented at least 3 times with items we had purchased.
Clearing the shelves was the easy part. It’s the loading, unloading, hauling up to the 7th floor, sorting, packing, loading, taking down to the 1st floor and filling up the shuttle busses that was hard. In order to have the room we needed to sort, divide and pack we literally took over the entire 7th floor of the Marriott hotel. We lined Rubbermaid containers along the walls in the hallway and went to work packing all 30 of them. To get out of their rooms, guests had to crawl over 50 lbs bags of rice, weave between the stacks of blankets and try not to trip on the kneeling girls. Not sure how popular we were so we offered both smiles and apologies to anyone who dared to leave the safety of their rooms.
Its never ceases to amaze me how willing people are to lend a hand. You hear the expression to give the clothes off your back but when have you ever witnessed such a thing? As we were well into our sorting and packing process a man and his wife stopped to ask us what we were doing. A valid question considering we were virtually blocking the entrance to his room. One of the staff members explained who we were and why we had created such a mess. As she was speaking I could literally see the mans face light up. He asked when we were leaving and if we would be willing to take anything that he had to give. Within minutes he had come back with his and his wife’s winter coats. He sheepishly asked if they could be used in Haiti and explained that he would give us so much more, but it was the only two articles he had that didn’t need to be washed. This man was ready and willing to give the clothes off his back but felt that the Haitian people deserved more than his unwashed laundry. So instead he brought us what he could saying that he had been looking for an opportunity to help. In a split second this gentleman had chosen to part with something of his in order for it to be blessing for someone else. Please keep this selfless couple in your prayers.
It wasn’t long before I was back in Concourse G at the Miami International Airport. It took two shuttle busses and a truck crammed full in order to get all of our supplies to the airport. I would imagine that the same guy who had tagged all 10 thousand pounds last week, was not too happy to see me again. Despite the task ahead he managed to give me a smile and a wave. This time we knew what to expect and the process went sooo much smoother. We were on the airplane and circling Port Au Prince before we knew it.
The language of love is a powerful one that I am blessed to be learning each and every day. The world may be weeping for Haiti but the people here are resilient. We had a visitor at dinner explain that she had started to cry at one of the hospitals, overwhelmed with a feeling of helplessness. She told me that a young man had come over to her to try and comfort her. He asked her gently why she was crying. Through her tears she explained that she was crying for him and for all the people of Haiti. He responded to her, “Miss, don’t cry for us. Today was a good day. Today we got to eat.”
There are so many examples of why this country holds my heart. Please pray for the people of Haiti that they would continue to smile and continue to hold on to that positive attitude. May they be blessed for their endurance and strength!

2 comments:

  1. How uplifting Janelle! I appreciate these blogs so much - thanks for taking the time to keep us updated with all of your experiences. I love you so much!


    Auntie Vernelle

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  2. Janelle, you have a way with words and your experiences have brought me to tears. I am so glad you are able to be there and help in this situation. So many of us wish we could help, but are not able to do so. You give us the opportunity to view things through your eyes and we can help by our prayers for you and those you are working with. It also helps to keep the needs there in front of us now that the media has gone on to more current situations.

    You were a lovely little girl when I knew you in Hanna and you have grown into a lovely young woman. God Bless you. Dorothy Andrus

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