Giving a S-#-@-T about Haiti: my recent trip

Tony Campolo was the keynote speaker 30 years ago at a seminary graduation.

He walked on stage and the first words in his speech to all of these Christians were:

"25,000 kids died last night - and you don't give a shit." 

The audience heard this and the whispers began: "Did he really say that?," "Oh my gosh, he just said 'shit.'!?!" etc. The whispering and tension grew and grew. Eventually it reached the president and faculty on stage who were clearly distraught, likely questioning one another about if they should intervene and apologize or let him continue and potentially say something even more shocking which is something Campolo is now known to do.

Before anyone could say anything, Campolo continued:

"The reason I know this is true is that I just told you that 25,000 KIDS DIE EVERY NIGHT and you are more concerned with the fact that I just said a 4 letter word on stage."

Sad, but true.

I heard this story from a man who was in that audience that day. 3 years ago, that story returned to his mind when he felt called by God to start an orphanage - Alex's House - in Haiti. 

And Haiti is the reason I've been in a bit of a hiatus from blogging because I was preparing to lead the trip, actually in Haiti and then resting and recovering after I got back.

I can't even begin to figure out how to get my thoughts and heart down in any brief, understandable way.

• There was so much poverty
• And so much trash which is simply not an adequate term: To take the trash out meant either burning it in a ditch or throwing it in the "river" which was more of a sloshy dump

• There was ridiculous traffic with the stance that traffic laws were mere suggestions... we only saw one stoplight and 2 stop signs the whole week and they were largely disregarded 

• Tent cities were still all around
• There was dirt and dust and mess

And then there were the people:

• The woman who was beaten and robbed right in front of the compound we were staying in; her screams were so frantic that at first we feared she was being raped
• Then there was the man who sat guard at our gate after it that night holding a foot and a half long machete 
• There was the little boy who we spotted sawing rusted rebar in the back of a moving, overflowing dump truck rushing down bumpy roads. He could not have been older than 10. 
• And then there were the 3 teen boys who saw him as the truck turned into a busy intersection. They rushed out through the cars and threw themselves on the side ladder to climb up and join him. The dumptruck did not even slow down. A Haitian woman with us said that was how it was in Haiti: if you wanted work, you were gonna have to get it.

• The little neighborhood boy who hung out with us at the orphanage we were fixing up who was clearly malnourished with his bloated belly and twig arms and legs. Despite his lack of, when we gave him bits of our lunch each day, he taught us a beautiful lesson and SHARED, immediately leaving to give some to his brother before he even tasted the food.

• The countless street children we played with in the afternoons who were dirty, half naked and often barefoot, sick with a snotty nose and SO FULL OF JOY. They laughed and sang and played and hugged, so very grateful even with how little they had. Below is probably the most joyful boy in Haiti... and my favorite ;) Meet Paul!

And there were so many more children like him.

1 in every 5 children in Haiti will DIE before their 5th birthday. (1)

Many of us are familiar with the troubles of Haiti - particularly after the 2010 earthquake - but we don't DO much about them.

I'm by no means tooting my own horn for going; in fact, I feel like I could/should have done so much more...

I don't even know how to begin to do something to fix all the problems I saw.

But I do know, to quote another Alex's House visitor, that "I have seen things I can't unsee." And now, excuse my language, I give a shit.

I hope you do too.

More facts about Haiti can be found here and here and here.

I hope to blog more in the future about ways we can do something.

Death by Wallpaper and Flooring: What am I going to do with my life?

What am I going to do with my life?

I hear that question in my own head almost hourly and out of someone else's mouth at least once a day.

Whether from a friend or a parent, a teacher or a classmate, even strangers. It is just the go-to question when anyone is talking to a Senior: "What are your plans after you graduate?"

Not like what are you doing tonight or this weekend. Not even what are you doing in a year but -

What are you doing with... YOUR LIFE. 

It can be panic inducing.

Especially if you don't have a precise answer.

But, I do have somewhat of an answer, at least by process of elimination:

I don't want death by wallpaper and flooring.

Let me explain :)

Thanks to my good friend Matthew who lent me his book, I have started reading Drops Like Stars by Rob Bell.

The book flows so well in a random but well-connected way and the visuals are absolutely fantastic. As a result, I won't be able to do his presentation of the material much justice but here's an excerpt:

In the movie Old School, Will Ferrel plays a married, thirty-something-year-old suburban man who finds himself at a college party.

When he's offered a drink, he declines, saying,

"I have a big day tomorrow." 

When he's asked, "Doing what?" he responds, "Well, um... actually, a pretty nice little Saturday. We're gonna go to Home Depot, buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed Bath and Beyond... I don't know. I don't know if we'll have enough time..."

Why is is that everyone I know who's seen that movie remembers that scene? Obviously people remember it because it's funny. But there's far more going on in the scene that just going to Home Depot on a Saturday. 

 This man in this movie is bored. 

He has the life that is often portrayed as the ideal - a wife, a house, a job, security, comfort, privilege, freedom - and yet it's left him bored, numb, and in a low-grade state of despair. His "success" has actually served to distract him from just how deeply unsatisfied he is with his life.

I assume none of us want to starve or be shot at or lose someone we love, but it's possible to die a sort of death at the other end of the spectrum as well, isn't it?

If we aren't careful, our success and security and abundance can lead to a certain sort of boredom, a numbing predictability, a paralyzing indifference that comes from being too comfortable.

 Death by wallpaper and flooring (p 39).

Yes, so for now, that at least is my answer to this ever-present and pressuring question: "What am I going to do with this life?"

I am going to LIVE, live in such a way that I won't suffer death by wallpaper and flooring.

I hope you're able to do the same.