Holy Spirit

"For wherever two or three gather in my name, there I am with them.” Matthew 18:20

I felt the Holy Spirit around us and in us and moving through us today in Titanyen. The morning brought us to the mass graveside of an unnamed and unnumbered multitude of buried dead who were victims of the earthquake which occurred almost exactly 5 years ago. There is a monument being erected on top of a tangled, unseen mass of buried bodies numbering in the tens of thousands. We hiked past the bustling graveyard to the top of a distant hill marked by a number of simple wooden crosses. We were quickly joined by several local neighborhood kids who were curious, friendly, and polite in their attempts at forming brief friendships while coyly asking for a bite to eat. Each day we fall in love with a dozen doe-eyed, smiling little Haitian children. It brings about a sweet and sour emotion to hold a gentle soul as they gaze into your eyes with a pleading heart that is thankful just to be held. Our guide recounted his remarkably sad story about the day the earthquake hit. We all wiped away a few tears and quietly slid down the rocky hillside trail back to our ride.

As we traversed yet another stretch of bumpy Haitian roads delivering meals to the needful elderly, it amazed me yet again at the Spirit that is present in this place. Spirit in this team, Spirit in the singing, Spirit in this ministry, and Spirit in the people of this beautiful battered country. We met a handful of sweet elderly Haitians living alone in shacks eagerly awaiting any human contact. We sang songs, delivered a hot meal with a cold drink, and held hands as we prayed over each individual soul. As we gathered around one of the women and held hands to pray I felt an overwhelming presence of the Holy Spirit sweeping through us in a powerful wave. We ministered to these charming people of Haiti today, young and old, but we were all touched by the presence of God a in meaningful way.

Greg Getchell