WALKING WITH GOD
Heart with Haiti
Working through set of emotions in the face of disaster
- Adam Cole // January 20, 2010
Here on the water there’s a stillness, a perfect peace of the ocean and its elements. It’s uncanny, actually, just how still it is: no wind, no waves, just a placid body as if it were a small pond. The sun shines brightly here, almost too brightly…the heat—especially for us winter birds—is both a blessing and a curse…but certainly beats the frigidness of winter nights. Sunsets here are pure majesty, as the radiance of that bright sun dips below the clouds.
It is hard to believe that miles away from this tranquil setting is a world in chaos, where millions of people are struggling to survive in the wake of a 7.0-magnitude earthquake; without much hope, many have turned to looting, violence against women and children at aid distribution sites, and setting up camps outside of the prime minister’s office where they beg for biscuits and water-purification tablets. This place is Haiti, primarily in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, where a nation without much at all has seen everything that it did have turn to rubble.
My vantage point, at least for now, for all of this turmoil is from the tranquil sea, where I sit stationed on the USS Normandy, operating in Canal du Sud, the main body of water that leads into Port-au-Prince. Though our ability to assist is limited, due to the nature of the way our ship is designed, it looks like we will be able to send our helicopter into Haiti to make drops of medicine and food.
No matter how close I may actually get to the struggle in Haiti, my heart and my prayers continue to be with them.
Today, on the ship, we held a small worship service, as we do every Sunday we are out to sea. At this time, I was torn between a ‘why God?’ inner turmoil and praising Him for who He is and His infinite goodness. Amidst hurt, worship can be a challenge in the heart, for we want to remain saddened and somber and critically access the Creator for an earth that is so broken. But, worship within hurt allows one to see God’s ‘true face’ to know His love, His purpose, and that His greatness is not conditional nor based on circumstances. To love and to praise God within hurt seems to give a much deeper ‘I love You,’ for it says to Him that your faith and love toward Him is also unconditional.
Life…it can be so crumbled and jumbled…but, thankfully, God asks only of our faithfulness through the storm.
Romans 12:12 reads: Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Perfect words for times when everything seems so broken.
And so we at Join the Journey, continue on this journey, to see how God is going to move, and how He is going to shine in the hearts of people working and giving their time and resources to allow this poor country to have new life. Last time I sent out a prayer sheet and I pray that is something that you take seriously; as a small note, want to emphasize that the photos there were not by me, but by a Flickr poster named Miriam Godet – those photos tell so much. We pray that the images of bloodshed become to cease and the images of rebuilding come to be.
May He always be deserving of our praise.
Adam Cole
Living for God - sharing His love throughout the earth.
This authory is a former party boy who discovered Jesus Christ at what was a crashing rock bottom moment, and is now a naval officer living for His glory.