The Night the Rocks Cried Out

By Tracie Stanley

On January 7, I traveled to Grand Goâve, Haiti, for a 10-day mission trip with Lifeline Christian Mission. The trip”s objective was to serve through hosting a day for the ladies from Lifeline”s churches, distributing Christmas gifts to children sponsored by the ministry, working in the infant nutrition program, and distributing shoes to Haitian children. By midweek we learned the Lord had a different objective in mind for this trip.

My first glimpses of Haitian life were as we flew into Port-au-Prince””houses made of cement block and scraps of metal were stacked on each other and against each other. I had never seen anything like it. Tears came to my eyes as I began to anticipate what I would experience.

As we drove out of Port-au-Prince toward Grand Goâve, the poverty was overwhelming””people living and eating among the trash and waste, children walking in the dirty streets with no shoes. The number of people was overwhelming. At times the smells were more overwhelming than the sites. I kept thinking we would soon come to the nice part of town, but we never did.

The next day we took a tour of Grand Goâve and saw many of the same scenes as in Port-au-Prince””the poverty, trash, barefoot children, the houses squeezed together,people sitting in the streets or on makeshift porches because there was nowhere to go, and no jobs to go to. But among all these depressing sights, I saw something even more overwhelming. I saw joy in the faces of the people. I saw kindness in their smiles. I felt engulfed by the love of the children as they ran to hold my hand and feel my white skin.

The next couple of days we met with the children and handed out gifts from their sponsors. I was amazed at how well behaved the children were as they sat for hours just waiting for their gifts. Many of these children were eagerly hoping for a doll or soccer ball. But beyond that, many were hoping for a jar of peanut butter or a bag of rice, to be able to help feed their families.

I helped one little girl through the line who was extremely excited to receive a can of tuna in her gift. She waved it in the air and showed it to her mom. I was overtaken by emotion because of her excitement that she going to be able to help feed her family that night.

“˜GET OUT! GET OUT!”

As the days passed, I learned more and more that God had sent me on this trip to learn from these people, not just serve them. This became apparent the night the rocks cried out.

After we finished handing out gifts on Tuesday afternoon, I was on the top bunk in my second-floor dorm room taking a nap when a loud rumble awakened me. It sounded like someone using a jackhammer just outside the room. I sat up and wondered what the noise was, as the building began to shake.

The bed swayed back and forth and the metal lockers along the walls crashed to the floor. I heard people shouting, “Get out! Get out!” as I raced down the steps.

The ground shook beneath my feet. As I reached the grass, I realized something major had happened. All the walls surrounding the dorm compound were shattered on the ground. As the shaking stopped, the most heart-wrenching thing began: the cries of people in the village””cries of terror, panic, and pain. It was awful and will forever remain in my memory.

Fear gripped us. Within minutes the Haitian translators and pastors who work for Lifeline were on the compound making sure we were OK. They left their own families to come and protect us. They were so wonderful. They began to pray over the grounds. I have never experienced such passion in prayer. I could see from their actions they believed with all of their heart, soul, and mind that God was listening and he was in control of the situation.

As time passed, more and more Haitians arrived at the compound. One woman carried her small child; his leg was crushed and bleeding very badly. The nurses on the team began to help mother and child. But, as the hours passed, the small child”s life slowly ebbed away.

But there was new life too. That night, a Haitian woman gave birth to a baby in the open field. In rapid succession I listened to the screams of a mother in labor, felt tremors from an aftershock, and then heard the cheers of congratulations as the baby came into this world.

GOD WAS THERE

We spent the days following the quake ministering to about 1,000 people who took refuge on Lifeline”s grounds. The calmness of the crowd was amazing. You would expect to find violence in a crowd of so many desperate people, but there was none.

We saw people helping care for one another. People were requesting prayer for loved ones””prayer that the Lord would bring peace to the hearts of so many frightened people, some so scared they were losing their minds and ripping at their clothes.

One group requested prayer for a grandmother who had not been able to settle down since the quake; she had been crying and thrashing about. When one of the older ladies in our group laid hands on her and began to pray, the woman became calm.

God was there at the compound in Haiti, I have no doubts. Those who believed in him turned to him and never looked back.

BLESSINGS FROM TRAGEDY

I learned several things during my time in Haiti. I saw what it truly means to be poor. Haitian life is the epitome of poverty. But I also learned poverty isn”t the worst thing in the world if you are living in faith and walking down those trashed-lined streets with Christ.

We have an overabundance of everything in America””food, clothes, wealth. But we sometimes have a shortage of faith. We can become so blinded by all we have and everything we have to do that faith can become a part of life rather than the central focus of our lives.

I also learned never again to take the U.S. military for granted. I praise God we have such brave, selfless people in our country who are willing to risk it all to serve others. I thank the U.S. Air Force for bringing us home safely to our families.

It was a bittersweet homecoming. It was overwhelming to finally see our husbands and hold our children again. But we knew we had left the Haitian people behind.

I believe the Lord is doing a good work in Haiti. It is a country that needed attention before the earthquake and now it is receiving it; so many people are giving money and time to help that nation. It is amazing to see how the Lord has brought abundant blessings through such tragedy, uniting all different parts of the world in one small place to help, serve, and love one another.

Tracie Stanley serves as office manager at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. She attends Discover Christian Church where she is active as a Sunday school teacher for preschoolers and attends weekly Bible study.