Joseph Zintseme Mission Trip January 20 – January 31, 2018

“The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.  And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Ezekiel 37:1-3

As we’ve traveled across Haiti surveying the country and meeting people and seeing their needs, I often felt like the prophet who saw a very desperate, depressing, discouraging and overwhelming spectacle of a valley full of dry bones. Indeed the needs of the people especially among the masses and the nation as a whole are overwhelming and can lead one in discouragement and even revolt. Often, I have to remind myself not to focus on what I am seeing, but to look beyond what I see.

Pastor Maula and I had numerous discussions or debates on the current, the historic and future state of the country. We talked about the politics of Haiti, the economic state of the country, the elite class of Haiti, the social crisis the nation is experiencing and what we think or envision needs to take place for the country to emerge once again. Sometime our debates were hopeful, sometime not so hopeful due to what we were witnessing as the current state of the country.

During a motivational presentation to a school assembly, I asked the students if they believe that Haitians were also created by God. One student responded, “No, because the images of Adam and Eve, the first people to be created, are images of White people.” Another student said he believed that Haitians were also created by God because the Bible said, “Let us create man in our image and likeness,” so God created all men Black, White, Red and Yellow. This discussion gave us more hope and enthusiasm that young Haitians need to be given the room and platform to think, to reason and critic the information they are receiving. They are capable of doing so.

Our efforts were to look at Haitians and to look at their land and to see their potential. Just as the prophet Ezekiel called dry bones to life, we determined to call out from within Haitians the potential we saw and continue to see. We told them about the potential and beauty of their country. Sometime they would be looking at us with disbelief, for that is not the information they often hear. Haiti has a unique, beautiful and diverse landscape with majestic mountains and enormous coastlines from the Atlantic to the Caribbean Seas. Nonetheless, the most beautiful and rich resource Haiti has is the Haitians themselves. Any effective development or service ought to be centered on developing them. Indeed, God has put the destiny of Haiti in the hands of the Haitian themselves.

Thank you for having gone to Haiti with me through your support in whatever form you expressed it. God himself will reward you.

Sincerely,

Joseph Zintseme