Tents

Even before the earthquake I often thought how similar the Haitian people are to the children of Israel.

A displaced people...
A chosen people...
A people given provision they are not happy with...
A people always looking for a new leader...
A people who never seems to get to the "Promise Land" and now...

A people who live in tents.


Tent cities are not a new part of what is happening in Haiti today.
There have always been the very, very poor who lived in tents.
In many cultures people live in tents and it doesn't speak of a displaced people.
We use tents on vacation when we go camping.
And yet, I can't imagine a life in a tent.
At the risk of sounding unkind, some of the tents people are living in today are better then the houses they used to live in before the quake.
It isn't a judgement thing, it is just the truth about how poor Haiti really is.

Haitians have an ability to adapt to things like I have never seen.
In truth, it will be a trick in getting people to move out of the tents on their own.
What we would only consider to be temporary, will do just fine for many years for some.
This is not a Haitian thing, it is a people thing, it is called...

com·pla·cen·cy: a feeling of security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect, or the like; self-satisfaction or smug satisfaction with an existing situation.

This is my prayer for Haiti...
Lord,
I pray we will help them find their voice.
A voice that will cry out for justice and that some day, just like it says in Isaiah 33:20, they will live in a tent that will not be moved; its stakes will never be pulled up, nor any of its ropes broken.
I pray for restoration and hope.
I pray that the world will not become complacent.
Not for Haiti, nor any of the other nations needing to find their voice.