A day of contrasts.  That's what today was for me.  The beauty of mountains and aqua ocean and pink flowering vines contrasted against broken and crumbling homes made of tarps, cinderblock and sheetmvetal.  We spent our time out today at City Soleil.  The poorest slum in the western hemisphere.  We delivered water with the water truck.  Happy half naked and wholly naked children of various ages literally pressed around and into us at each water stop, latching onto our hands and/or bodies, thirsty for attention and touch just as much as water.  Large empty buckets and metal tins were lined up to fill from a continuously flowing hose of water.  Our duties and privileges of the day: holding kids, acting as human playgrounds, helping fill and facilitate the filling of these buckets and bowls, helping carry these filled water buckets back into the maze of homes in the City - sometimes one hand/arm holding one child and the other helping another child carry a 40 pound slushing bucket of water.

I said today was a day of contrasts.  The sun was HOT, the water was cool.  The water we brought was clean, the water in the surrounding gutters was DIRTY, filled with urine, trash, and likely human waste.  Contrast our team's need for consistent hydration and these Haitian people who don't seem to need a third of the water we need to keep going.  The contrast of dirty, dusty feet and bodies and pressed and sparkling clean uniforms on the kids coming and going from school.

The biggest contrast for me today: weakness and strength.  These Haitian people have an unbelievable strength and stamina.  They work and live hard in the sun, don't seem to require nearly as much water as we do, and these kids can carry and push 40 pounds of water without taking nearly as many breaks as I need to.  The water buckets hang on unbroken fingers and rides atop strong heads and necks. I started the day out in weakness.  We are all probably cruising on less strength and energy than we otherwise would (not being used to the heat and perpetual sweating, to be honest.)   But let me tell you this - in my weakness and fatigue, the LORD Almighty, who loves these Haitian people, was my STRENGTH.  And seeing the fatigued, sweaty, yet willing and joyful faces of my team, I know that my Jesus was their strength too, without a doubt.  There were several times where I  literally felt I could not help carry one more bucket or pick up one more child with their arms outreached.  In the moment of silent confession to my Creator of my inability, strength that was not my own lifted up the other side of the bucket and picked up and held the darling child.  And I praise God.  Because moments of this kind of physical weakness are hard to come by in my middle class American life in the states, but this experience provides a beautiful soil for growth of knowing my LORD to be my strength and to LEARN that His grace IS sufficient for His power IS made perfect in weakness - 2 Cor 12:9-12.  And while my faith isn't always sure of the validity of that promise, my experience today and the experience of my friends with me affirms that it IS true.  

Let now the weak say I have strength, by the Spirit of Power that raised Christ from the dead. - Hillsong   -------- Stephanie