Responding

"Exposure demands a response." ~Chris Heuertz, executive director of Word Made Flesh

I've been exposed to poverty, to hunger, to nakedness, so now what?

Yesterday we drove from Port Au Prince to another town to catch a boat. The roads we drove on were very rugged, speckled with potholes and washed out in several sections. Along them we saw several homes. The homes here all seem t be about the size of a small garage. If I had to guess I would say most of them have 2 rooms. All along the roads people were selling paintings, hand-made crafts, fruit, and anything else that could sit on a table in their front yard.

Once we reached our boat, we then went on to La Gonave, our final destination. We drove again past several small houses where there were naked children playing along the street, while their mothers sold goods. To be honest, I wasn't surprised by any of this.

A few years ago, the shock of these sights would bring me to tears immediately, but today I did not cry. I wrestled. I know my pity and my tears will not change this. Though I'm sure God still likes when we cry over injustice, I want to do more than cry over it.

I want to change it. But I have no idea how. I know just giving money and things isn't enough. That can even do more harm than good if it creates an unhealthy dependence -- think of the short falls of the welfare system (Don't get me wrong when we see the naked we need to cloth them and when we see the hungry we need to feed them...it's about balance). And I know just going and seeing and talking isn't enough. I want to do more.

I want to respond to poverty and injustice as Jesus did. And I want to do this not only in Haiti, while I am living among and making friends with these people. But I want to do it in the U.S. where I live among the wealthiest people in the world. (Yep in the U.S. I'm filthy rich, even w/a part-time job paying $8 an hour.) But how?

Could you pray with me as I wrestle with this? Now that I have been exposed, how should I respond?