IVP - Strangely Dim - Heading to Haiti

Heading to Haiti

Tomorrow I will wake up ridiculously early to board a flight to Miami. There I will meet up with six contest winners and Kent Annan, author of Following Jesus Through the Eye of the Needle and codirector of Haiti Partners, and we'll travel together to Port-au-Prince, where we'll meet up with Kent's codirector John Engle for our five-day tour of Haiti. Monday I'll return home. Tuesday I'll return to IVP.

Kent's book is a memoir of sorts, giving us some insight into life on the ground of one of the poorest countries in the world, where Kent lived for a while and continues to visit from his home in Miami, as he works with Haiti Partners to strengthen the educational infrastructure of the country. The book came out in November. The earthquake hit in January.

I must confess, heading into this trip, my sense of inadequacy, given the impressiveness of this team Kent and IVP have assembled, but also given the enormity of Haiti's recent misfortunes, which pile on top of a long history of misfortune. In one sense, I suppose, my travels to Haiti serve as a sort of fact-finding mission; I'll report back to those who can't go what the needs and signs of hope are, from my vantage point. But I'm a little worried that my trip will amount to nothing more than devo-tourism, a pious jaunt to a place that will pluck at my heart strings but ultimately resolve into little more than lip service to God and to those who suffer more than I do.

That would, quite honestly, suck. A friend of mine read this, however, and reminded me that "it's God's business to make something of this." Not mine. Takes the pressure off, I suppose.

Anyway, if you're so inclined, please pray that this trip will have enduring meaning and value for us, for our hosts, for the world we return to. And I hope to post my thoughts and pictures here while I'm away, along with the insights and reflections of my travel companions, so feel free to poke and prod at my postings from and after Haiti; I'll gladly accept your help in recognizing the truth revealed in this trip.

Posted by Dave Zimmerman at May 19, 2010 9:29 AM