This morning I received a moving letter from a young pastor in Haiti who has recently become involved in our church’s theological training efforts down there. Since the 2010 earthquake God has opened a wide door for us to minister to Haitian pastors, churches and orphans in an increasingly extensive way. These efforts and investments helped launch the Haiti Collective that now involves a growing number of confessional churches that partner together to carry on this work.

Pastor Garry writes about the latest health threat in Haiti that has arrived in the form of the mosquito-borne disease called Chikungunya. Read his letter below and pray for him and other Haitian pastors who seek to minister God’s grace amid numerous social, cultural, economic and medical challenges. Check out the Haiti Collective for ways that you can help partner with ongoing ministry in that needy country.

Dear Friend & Prayer Partner,

One of the most difficult verse in the Bible is Romans 8:28
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” It is difficult to see the good when the bad happens, when it happens frequently.
In Haiti, during the Regime of the dictators Duvalier( father & son) 30 000 to 50 000 people had been killed.
10 000 to 30 000 murdered from 1991 to 1994 during the coup d’Etat that exiled Aristide.
The earthquake 2010 made 250 000 to 300 000 dead;  1,2 millions homeless and 4000 amputies.
the same year, an epidemic hits the country and made 8000 dead and 650 000 affected by the cholera.
From may 10 to June 2, 2014, a fever called Chicungunya caused by mosquitoes terrifies the population. Already more than 3000 people affected at least 26 dead. The number continues to grow affecting baby, kid, youth and adult.

Our nation has a long history of suffering, constant pain. Like Job, no time to breathe the next fright is already there ready to hit without mercy, without pity.
We do not dare admit it but basically we wonder why God allows all of this? Sometime there is no word to describe the inner turmoil? Are there a reason to hope, to believe in happiness and a better tomorrow? Is it a curse!

I do not have any answer and God never responds to our desperate “Why”. When He appears to Job in the middle of the storm He asked more questions and not an answer. A real paradox!
But didn’t He restore Job at the end? Didn’t He wipe away his tears at the end? Didn’t He bring the joy back? That reminds those words of Jeremiah, the prophet: “It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”
That’s why me and others we choose to trust Him:

We trust Him despite we don’t understand
We trust Him when it’s painful
We trust Him when all our strength is gone
We trust Him even when death is come
Above all, one thing we know, on thing we are sure about
is that He loves us.
His  love transcends the time and the circumstances
His love overcome the pain and sorrow.
That’s why despite all, we TRUST HIM.

May our constant suffering and resilience because of the Lord be an encouragement for you.

By His grace,
Pastor Garry