Realm

If you were to draw a circle around your realm of influence, who would be inside of it?  My sphere would include my family and friends, my church community, my students, and the surrounding community where I work.  I've been thinking a lot lately about the circles in which I live.  I keep drawing these bubbles around groups and people.  In my mind I think about the blessing of these relationships and how thankful I am to have these cherished connections.  

The adventures of the past weekend have made me question how I view these realms.

On Saturday morning a few of the summer school teachers and I tagged along with a long-term missionary to visit a small community schooling program in Bon Repos, about a 30 minute drive outside of Port au Prince.  This informal schooling program was started in the yard of a relative of some of the former teachers at Christian Light School.  When we arrived, we parked the car and wandered through the little alleyways of the neighborhood.  The homes were modest, made from cement blocks and tin.  People were standing out in their yards and kindly smiled or nodded at us as we passed by.  

As soon as we walked through the gate of the home, we could hear the voices of children echoing their teacher.  Ms. Clotilde and her husband, Mr. Walner, who were both teachers at CLS a few years ago, are currently working as house parents at the children's home.  I have been very happy to become reacquainted with them this summer as they are both remarkable examples of faith and love in action.  They are also both very gifted educators.  They have started this schooling program to meet the needs of their community.  They looked around at their neighbors, at their circles, at their spheres of influence, and recognized a need.  Then they took action.  They invited the children from the neighborhood to come to do schooling with them in their yard.  They found missionaries who could sponsor the program so that they could feed about 60 children each week.  They take time to plan together and invite others to join in the planning.  When Clotilde invited me to come, she asked if I could plan a game for the children to play.  My students in New Hampshire would be happy to know that there are bunches of children in Haiti playing Wax Museum!  

The whole experience was overwhelming.  I was overwhelmed by the awareness of Clotilde and Walner, by their ability to look at their communities, their realms of influence, and recognize a need.  This vision sincerely humbles me.

This is a photo of Guetty and I having a little outing earlier this summer to the Apparent Project :)

Then on Sunday, my friend Ms. Guetty, who is currently working at the school as a volunteer coordinator, took us further out of the city to a neighborhood called Jerusalem.  This is a region that was basically uninhabited before the earthquake.  With all of the destruction in the city, many families were displaced and found land in Jerusalem was affordable, which lead to a very quick development of a small area of land.  The challenge with this kind of fast development, especially in Haiti, is that there was no infrastructure in Jerusalem to support the influx of people.  Schools, businesses, and even passable roads are gravely needed.  

After traveling for about an hour on public transportation (tap-tap) to Jeruslalem, Ms. Guetty took us to her home where we met her father, a kind and welcoming gentleman.  We walked together from their family home to the small school building that she and some of her friends have been using as an informal community school for children who can't afford schooling otherwise.  We were a bit late in arriving, so when we got there the children were all seated on the benches and awaiting us with curious smiles.  We spent the afternoon together singing and telling Bible stories and doing crafts and playing games in Creole.  It was such a blessing to see Ms. Guetty and her friends and family reaching out to their small community to bring hope and opportunities to these children.  

These experiences make me think about the needs that may be right around me that I never recognize or that I fail to act upon.  I'm praying now for eyes to see how God might let me be more like Clotilde, Walner and Guetty, seeing needs and being His hands and feet in this world.  

The apostle Paul thought the message to the Galatians was so important that he should write it with his own hand...

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to the household of faith.

Many thanks to you all for following along with this summer in Haiti.  Much love in Christ and thankfulness that we are walking together this life of faith and share realms of influence!  Jessie :)