Compassion for Everyone

Every day needs to be like today.

Every day needs to be a day where we do Christ's work.

This could mean different things to lots of different people but in general, we all need to show love and compassion for EVERYONE we encounter.

I did that today.

We did that today.

Mission accomplished.

Here's the but....

It was hard.

Today in Haiti we spent a few hours at a hospital for sick and dying babies.

I hate that name.   But that is exactly what it is.

Our team went into a room with forty cribs.  Each crib had a baby in it.

Each baby needed someone to love them.

So we did.

We held skinny little babies who needed food.   We fed skinny little babies.

We (and I use the term loosely because I just held babies) changed bedding, washed diapers and walked and rocked and cooed and sang and it was beautiful.

The babies have parents around, but they are not able to be there 24/7 and the fantastic nuns and their helpers can not care for each of the multiple identical rooms with 40 babies in them.

So we helped.   Was it a drop in the bucket?  Probably.   But we made a difference, albeit temporary, for the babies we did love.

The other part of our day was spent at a missionary for children and teens with physical and mental disabilities.

Again, the brothers and priest who run the mission do a great job with what they have.   

And again, the work is not easy.

The team jumped into action and interacted with and showed love and attention for a group of kids who need it like you and I can not begin to fathom.

Since coming to Haiti, I think I have mastered two to three words in Haitian Creole that I can readily communicate with.  And for the most part a language barrier is a non-issue. 

There are so very many things that need to be addressed before we could begin an open dialog.  

This afternoon was no exception as we befriended adolescents who for the many cases weren't equipped to speak their own language.

Universals in the world prevailed.

You don't need words to smile, laugh, hold hands, walk, play soccer, or massage the hands and feet of crippled children who are confined to wheelchairs and cribs. 

Music was the other universal.   When I brought out my guitar, some of the kids screamed with glee.   When I let them strum the guitar, you could hear the face-melting solos they were 

shredding in their minds, for the very first time.  

At the end of our visit, most of us were emotionally spent and wrecked.

I packed up my guitar and took my own tour of the facility.

There were four large common dorm rooms for the kids to sleep in, an admin building, kitchen and two sheltered common areas.  

Within the compound (again, walls all t
he way around, razor wire at the top and armed guard) the brothers had created a calm, sanctuary where boys and girls could spend their days in

as much comfort as could be afforded.   One of the commons had cribs and beds where some of the more physically disabled kids laid.   

I walked around to them, held their hands, looked them in the eye and gave thanks that they had found someone to love them.   I feigned a smile for each of them.

Every day should be like today.

Every day we need to love those around us.

Every day has challenges.

Give thanks for the parts of the day that aren't hard!

Dave Livermore