Going where we are called.

A young woman named Kristy R. from our congregation just arrived in Haiti to join a medical mission team that has already been providing medical care since shortly after the earthquake. If anyone is prepared for this mission, it's Kristy. She spent two years working for the Peace Corp in a remote and primitive village in Ecuador. She is used to living without electricity and running water. Since returning from Ecuador she has become a nurse. Her mother has been going on medical mission trips for many years, and I'm pretty sure Kristy has gone with her at least once. Kristy has requested our prayers that she will be the hands and feet and voice of Jesus, and that we pray for the Haitian people.

Yesterday morning during worship, our preacher Dan commented that Kristy will see, hear, and even smell things that she will not soon forget and that those things may trouble her for some time to come. Not that it can even be compared, but it made me think of my trip to Mississippi a couple of weeks after Hurricane Katrina hit.

When I say it can't compare, I don't mean the tragedy and human suffering, I'm speaking of my experience. We did not go to provide medical care. We didn't witness death and suffering in the way that Kristy will in Haiti. Mostly we cut down trees, cleared peoples driveways and roofs, handed out relief supplies, and helped clean up the mess in people's homes.

What reminded me was just the impact of the experience on my life. Seeing the aftermath of the sheer power of that storm was remarkable. Seeing steel columns twisted like pipecleaners and houses pushed aside the way a child would clear a pile of Legos off a table was something I'll never forget. Seeing the markings on the remnants of homes along the Gulf that indicated the discovery of dead bodies was sobering. Knowing that those people had enough warning to get out of harm's way and didn't was baffling.

That experience of seeing a lifetime worth of "stuff" being blown away and washed away made me look at my "stuff" in a much different way. There were houses that were not there anymore, just the foundation with some of the contents left lying on the ground or hanging out of the surrounding trees. (Yes, trees were left even though the houses were not.) Or a little further inland where the problem was the tidal surge, the contents of homes were literally put in piles on front lawns with signs not to dispose of what was there until the insurance company came to see it. It's all stuff.

Sadly, for the people in Haiti, a lot of them didn't have "stuff" to begin with. They didn't have any warning either. The only reason they care about the rubble is because their loved ones could still be within that rubble.

I remember watching the coverage of what was happening in Mississippi and Louisiana right after the hurricane. I remember standing in front of the TV crying because of the absolute horror and suffering I was seeing.

I haven't watched much of the coverage from Haiti. At first I wondered if I was just being cold. But no, just the opposite. I think the more suffering I've seen, both in the world and in my own life, the harder it is getting for me to take it in. I just can't bear it. Even more, I hate the exploitation of the tragedy by the media. Yes, it needs to be covered, and yes, the ugliness of it needs to be shown so the needs are known. But as soon as the next big story comes along, the media will move on. Is it possible that I'm more compassionate yet more cynical at the same time?

How did Jesus do it? He saw it all. I know he was perfect, but in him humaness, how could he have taken it all in. He walked on earth and knew just by looking at someone what their suffering was. He knew who was exploiting whom. And we are called to do the same.

When Katrina happened, I felt an immediate need to go help. I felt called, and blessed when the opportunity to go opened to me. I got so much more than I gave.

I haven't had that feeling about Haiti. But I don't feel bad about that, because Kristy did have that calling. God prepares us and calls us where and when he wants us. That might be to go to Haiti, or it may be to stay home with our sick child. It may be to support a loved one going through illness or life's trials. From the simplest to the most difficult of situations. If we are open to Him, He will send us. And because He sends us, we will probably get more than we can give. I'm almost positive that Kristy will say that when she gets home.