26 Days

          Today, I was just looking through the music on my iPod and came across a song called Haiti, by Arcade Fire. So I looked up the lyrics and began to read the comments on the lyrics. Turns out, the song is about the past devastation in Haiti. I did a little research and discovered one of the co-leaders of the band, Regine Chassagne, has family ties to Haiti. Her parents emigrated from Haiti to Canada during the dictatorship of Duvalier. Growing up, she would hear stories of the oppression her family faced while in Haiti. After the earthquake her husband, also in the band Arcade Fire, and herself requested donations for the organization, Partners in Health, to help the relief effort. So, why am I telling you all this? Well, I found it extremely interesting that this band, Arcade Fire, who has been doing very well the past couple of years, has this kind of tie to the country we are going to serve in. Not to mention that this is one of my favourite bands, among many. Also, the lyrics are also very interesting. The third verse says, “In the forest we lie hiding, unmarked graves where flowers grow. Hear the soldiers angry yelling, in the river we will go.” These lyrics represent all the hurt and oppression the people of Haiti have been through. It shows fear and almost no hope at all. But then in the fourth verse they ring out, “Soon we will reclaim the earth. All the tears and all the bodies, Bring about our second birth.” These specific lyrics, for me, represent Jesus’ second coming. It also shows that God is our saving grace. He will use many different individuals to help bring hope and love to Haitians.

Since December I have been raising a fair chunk of my money from my photo card business called Bright Eye Images. Now I have been blessed by the kindness of a retired pastor, who uses the scrap wood from my dad’s work to make wonderfully handcrafted toy trains and cars. He donated a beautiful train to me this past week and in the next coming weeks I am going to work hard to auction it off. This has really shown me how much God really does provide for us.

Lastly, I would like to add that I am very excited (and also nervous) for this trip. It has been a real blessing and I hope that we can be a great help to everyone we come in to contact with on our trip and be true servants for the Lord. I am looking forward to building relationships with God’s people in Haiti and for them to learn from our team and for us to learn from them.

“When things belong to God, they matter and have something to say.” – John Van Sloten, The Day Metallica Came to Church

- Colette