Except this isn’t a political rant. Phew, right?

I don’t leave my room without being dressed for the day, and when I’m dressed for the day I’m ready to go.  I’m not a huge breakfast guy either, and I don’t really need caffeine. That being said, I love food and I really like coffee, so I’m not often in a hurry to get to work in the morning. In Haiti especially, I take my time in the morning because it is an hour of the day that isn’t scorching hot, making it a perfect time to sit outside and watch the day begin.

Today however, there is a sense of urgency. The weeks are winding down and it is our final few days in Haiti for this trip. So this morning as I sat at the table and was pouring myself a cup of coffee, I began reviewing to John some of the things we still had to get done.

“Woah Woah Woah.” John interrupted, “Mornings are for coffee and reflection. Nothing Else.”

We didn’t talk any more as we finished off a couple of pancakes and moved out to the porch to read for a while. I could hardly keep myself from thinking about the things we still had to get done, but thinking about returning to the states forced me to reflect on the trip as a whole.

So this post is obviously about some of those reflections, just one of them actually, because whether here for a week or two months or a year, you are going to walk away with some more perspective. In such a way you return home a different person; tanner skin; warmer heart; new appreciation for food, water, and snow; and depending on how you choose to climb the mountains, you may be covered in new skin infections because apparently every plant is poisonous (my entire body itches).

Today, my morning coffee reflection takes me back to the days we traveled around with John Robert to some of the neighbors simply to check on how they are doing and invite them to church. Some of these neighbors were widows, some were witch doctors, some has several spouses, and some had turned away from God long ago, but they were all showed love by John and invited with a full heart to come to church that Sunday.

Just imagine this scene, two white kids and a well-known Haitian sitting in the yard of a voodoo witch doctor with 34 kids and 9 wives. We talked about his childhood, his dreams for the community and his kids, about his work with spirits and demons, and finally about God and the church. We didn’t invite him to a breakfast social where he can meet new friends, there wasn’t some big concert or play we were putting on, and there wasn’t going to be any free coffee, but John offered to show him a God that cared, and that was enough.

I don’t want to say too much on this, because I want you to think on that and draw your own conclusions. So, I’ll leave this as a short one today, but let me just ask if my church, the American church, would be willing to sacrifice some of it’s time to extend its hand to that neighbor in the dirt, to the homeless man, the rich man, to the liberal and conservative neighbors (cough cough), I could go on, but I think you get the point. More so, do we believe in the power and love of our God to be compelling enough, or are we going to hide him behind a wall of ‘fun’ activities and free food.

That’s all for today, you can have your soapbox back.