Seeking Advent(ure) in Haiti

Over the past week I have encountered Isaiah 40:1-11 a few different times in various devotionals.  This is a pretty standard passage for the beginning of Advent, but this scripture is jumping out at me in new ways as I prepare for my trip to Haiti this week.  Advent means "coming."  It is the season in which we remember the coming of God incarnate in Jesus, we prepare our hearts to welcome Christ in our midst, and we look forward to the future restoration of the world.  Isaiah's "voice crying out in the wilderness" reminds us of this future reality.  And if there is a people on this earth who understand the impact of massive landscape change (physical, emotional and cultural), if there are people who know the fragility of life, if anyone is in need of comfort, embrace and the promise of restoration, it is the people of Haiti.  

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Three Weeks 'Til Haiti!

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Good news: I have a vague idea of where I'm going and what I'm doing in Haiti!  And yes, I'm officially going to Haiti.  My team is working on a church construction project in Les Cayes, a coastal town that has had an influx of displaced people since the earthquake last winter.  I don't know a whole lot else about the project itself at this point, except that we are staying at a guest house with bunk rooms, and we'll be the third VIM team at this site.  It sounds like we'll be doing some actual building - like pouring concrete and such.  Yeah, its ok if you laughed when you pictured me pouring concrete.  

People keep asking me if it's safe to go to Haiti right now, what with the cholera outbreak and all of that business... 

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