Let there be Peace

John 14:27  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Today is the United Nations Day of Peace.  On the porch I watched as children, dressed in their matching lime green peace brigade uniforms, walked past the gate on their way to church.  Today, the worship service was celebrated at the Mizak Center, instead of Peace Park.  The people of this community wanted to offer thanks again to God for this wonderful new center.

As part of the celebration we used Skype technology to link to Trinity United Methodist Church in Grand Rapids and with the children of University United Methodist Church in East Lansing.  What captivated me about connecting these children today was how similar the experience seemed to be in both countries.  They all wanted to share names, learn what each other did for fun, what everyone had for breakfast this morning and when they went to school.   

It was great to take the children of Mizak on a video field trip.  On Friday, Valerie Mossman-Celestin took me to a jaw dropping vista where you could see the ocean and the city of Jackmel below.  She told me that many of these kids will see this view nearly every day of their lives, but never experience the sand, sun and beckoning blue waters. The time and cost to get there is too much. 

When the chat ended, the HAPI kids were much too excited to leave and go to church.  We sat for hours and looked at photos of Michigan and of my family.  Honestly, I skipped a few.  Like the water balloon battles at church camp.  When you consider water as lifesaving liquid gold, the thought of putting it in balloons and throwing it at each other for fun would seem totally insane.   And, by the way, before you worry that I kept children from church, keep in mind that today’s service lasted an entire day.  It went so long that sandwiches, drinks and cake were distributed among the congregation during the service.   

Hundreds showed up in the 90+ degree heat to give thanks to God for this center and to talk and pray for peace. There were hours of testimonies on the need for peace.  Our own Carol Hillman even sharing how God’s peace showed up at her house in the form of a jello mold. Her testimony was a hit, even if the locals have no idea what jello is. We sat and meditated ALL DAY on peace.  When was the last time you spent an hour focused on peace, let alone six?  Maybe the world would be a better place if we all spent that half that much time meditating on this critical topic and getting to know our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world.  I know my opinion of the Haitian people has been forever changed by three simple days.

Tonight, a young 18 year old man named Mackenzie, a new pal, offered to take me and mission team member Don Meadows to a soccer game.  I assumed he was referring to the pick-up game a young boy had mentioned earlier in the day.  A side note; when a local say it’s just "a short walk", they mean "short" in Haitian terms. Bring water.  Soon, we were walking quite a distance along narrow trails, past huts and farm fields and animals.  Three days ago, the thought of doing this without the security of our translator at our side would of totally freaked me out. And yet, here we were, walking with our new friend, being warmly welcomed by villagers along the trail.  The path opened onto a huge rocky field.  We were amazed to see over 500 people watching  two local teams duke it out for the community championship.  Unreal.  We stayed until half time, then Mackenzie took us back to the Shalom Center so we could catch the sunset.  Looking out across the tranquil valley, I found myself totally at peace.   

My prayer is that you were at peace today too.  Shalom!