John's Blog - Lutheran World Relief

More from Rev. Harrison

2010-02-02T20:56:00.000-05:00

LWR's board member Matthew Harrison, Executive Director of LCMS World Relief and Human Care, returns to Haiti

Today(February 1) we made our way slowly through the refugee camp at Jacmel,south of Port-au-Prince. An area some 175 yards square, encompassed bya high concrete wall, surrounds perhaps a thousand makeshift tentshelters. At one end of the camp, smiling ten-year-old boys fly kitesmade from garbage (soaring to amazing heights), indicative of theresilience of the human spirit in dire crisis. All around the camp inthe heart of the city, home after home is collapsed. The rubble hasbeen pushed and swept aside so that cars can pass. Tents (Coleman is avery popular brand) pop up everywhere and fill the streets toimpassibility in the evening. Most feel unsafe sleeping insidebuildings, even three weeks out. A great many of the buildings leftstanding are not safe.

PastorMarkie Kessa’s eyes betray fatigue. “All this happened in 28 seconds…”He shakes his head as tears well. The LCMS Mercy Medical Team commenceda clinic this morning and treated some 150 patients by afternoon. Wehad been alerted to critical need at a local hospital and diverted ourorthopedic surgeon, one emergency doctor, and a nurse to assist. Therewere 300 there today, including an infant with head injuries who hadsurvived three days buried in the rubble. While her mother clutchedher, not 25 yards away another large family was on death watch fortheir beloved mother. Children and the elderly, and all in between,occupied makeshift beds outside under tarps. There was deepappreciation for our prayers and pastoral care.

Whatstrikes me most about today is that the Haitians here south ofPort-au-Prince are overwhelmingly alone. The Canadians occupy the smallairstrip and were certainly cordial and supportive of our presence. Thesoldiers we spoke to in the refugee camp looked exhausted. I asked,“What’s the most significant need you are dealing with?” One quipped,“The need for a shower.” They’d been on the ground nearly from thebeginning of this three-week marathon. Everything about them longed forhome--or at least longed for anything but this muddy, noisy,foul-smelling, makeshift camp.

Wedrove through the traumatized streets of Jacmel. We saw no police, nomilitary, and no heavy equipment to remove rubble--no governmentpresence whatsoever. A few NGO vehicles passed by now and again. As faras Jacmel is concerned, what struck me was that the Haitians arehandling this virtually alone. Passing by block after demolished block,I was struck by the massive nature of this problem. If this hadoccurred in the U.S., the entire area would be cordoned off, surroundedby military. Building by building would be demolished. But I sawnothing of that. Individuals digging in mountains of concrete staredblankly as we passed, gloved hand hanging in fatigue by their numbedsides. Still the streets in places are bustling withactivity--makeshift shelters, street carts, shops, and the omnipresentColeman pup tents.

It’srather obvious to me that there will be no grand solution to Haiti’sills. There will be pockets and places that receive attention and a lotof it. There will be fantastic aid given and capacity increased. Therewill be confusion and chaos. There will be hundreds of thousands, yesmillions, who go about their lives “falling between the cracks,” as itwere, with homes neither totally leveled nor safe for continueddwelling. They’ll patch the cracks as best they can and turn to thefuture. In other words, Haiti will be Haiti.

Iam struck again by the kindness of the Haitians--their ready greetings,their deep appreciation for a word of love, a touch, and a prayer, ablessing in Christ’s name. This graciousness has been universal thusfar. I’ve seen thousands upon thousands of traumatized people. I’vespoken to hundreds and not been put off, not sneered at, not jeeredonce--not a single time.

Everyonehas a story. Every story is filled with significance and meaning andpain and death and lives spared. The most significant factor here inHaiti is a people who--in the midst the greatest chaos, corruption, andgovernment dereliction in the hemisphere--manage to rise each day to anew task, a new opportunity, a new hope. And the majority of those I’vemet are Christians, know they are baptized, and say things like,“Pastor, I don’t know… I just trust in God.” Or, “I know Jesus.”

Honestly,I feel exhausted and empty tonight. We will be able, are able to helpsuch a relatively small number of those affected. For some reason,Jesus’ parable of the shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to seek theone, turns in my mind and has been doing so all day today. Our vocationis not to save the ninety-nine, but to seek the one. One at a time. Onehere and one there. One child cared for. One person nursed to health.One life saved. One hurting soul comforted with the name of Jesus. Oneman loved. Our vocation is not to change Haiti, or to change the wholeworld, or to change the economic realities with which Haitians wrestle.Our vocation is to act and make a life-changing difference one at atime. And acting one at a time, we find that over some hours, over afew days, and over a couple of weeks, the flock of those helped in thename of Jesus has grown to be surprisingly large.

Pastor Matthew Harrison
Executive Director, LCMS World Relief and Human Care
Board Member, Lutheran World Relief

Luterana

2010-02-02T09:43:00.000-05:00

Community gathering place built with LWR funds

Pastor Meredith Keseley traveled with a Lutheran World Relief study tour to Nicaragua on a Marian Stegemoeller Memorial Scholarship in 2005. She recently led a group from her congregation (St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Washington, DC) on a mission trip to Nicaragua. She is preparing to take a new call at Lutheran Church of the Abiding Presence in Burke Virginia.

Pastor Meredith shares her reflection on the impact of Lutheran World Relief in Nicaragua:

Luterana

What a difference five years makes! Five years ago, I first visited the cooperative project in La Reyna. The community had just started the eco-tourism project when I visited with a group from Lutheran World Relief on a fair trade coffee growing tour. This week I visited the community again, this time with the St. Paul’s Mission Team.

There have been many changes to this rural coffee growing community. When I stayed with them five years ago there was no indoor plumbing whatsoever. There were latrines and bucket showers. Now, all the homes that hosted members of our team had a working toilet and some had a shower. A new pavilion had been built as a gathering place for when groups like ours come to visit. Many of these improvements had been the result of a partnership with Lutheran World Relief.

To my knowledge there is not a single Lutheran in the cooperative at La Reyna. There are two churches associated with the community, one Catholic and one Evangelical. Yet, when you mention the word “Luterana” (that’s “Lutheran” in Spanish) everyone knows what you mean. Luterana is how they refer to Lutheran World Relief, one of the international outreach organizations supported by Lutherans in the United States.

To this community “Luterana” means toilets (indoor ones) and better wet mills for coffee that reduce pollution from the “honey water” that released during the process. “Luterana” means funds to build a community gathering place and a new shrine to the community’s patron saint after the old shrine was knocked down by a tree. “Luterana” means training in English and tourism for their young people and funds to help build homes in the cooperative. “Luterana” in the cooperative doesn’t necessarily mean a group of people who gather by themselves on a Sunday morning in a church, it means a group of people who stand ready and willing to support when the community identifies a need.

This isn’t a bad definition of “Luterana”. In fact, it is a definition of our faith community that I wish more people had. For those who are interested, you can learn more about what Lutheran World Relief is doing not only in Nicaragua, but also around the world at www.lwr.org

Some Updates

2010-01-28T16:16:00.000-05:00

Just over two weeks after the earthquake in Haiti and our relief efforts are in full swing.

This morning I was pleased to receive word that LWR’s second shipment of material aid will soon be on its way to Haiti. In partnership with International Relief and Development, we are sending 11,550 quilts and 1,675 health kits. These will be distributed in Leogane, a town southwest of Port-au-Prince that was badly damaged by the earthquake. Our first shipment—containing 1,500 layettes and 650 health kits—arrived safely earlier this week and is being distributed in the Port-au-Prince area.

We’ve received a great response to our call for more health kits and quilts. Our headquarters staff has spoken to many people wanting to know how to start a ministry and how to get things to us fast. All I can say is…thank you and keep it up! We still need very much need your help to meet the needs in Haiti and around the world.

We also ask you to continue to keep Haiti in your thoughts and prayers. The media attention is quickly turning elsewhere, but LWR is not. We are planning a long-term response aimed at building better lives for people in Haiti. I cannot stress this enough—we cannot do this work without your support.

I invite you to take a moment to visit our “Prayers for Haiti” page. There you can share a prayer for the people of Haiti or simply read the prayers of others.

Thank you for all that you are doing to support this life-saving relief effort.

Critical Issues in Haiti

2010-01-26T21:26:00.003-05:00

More from Rev. Matthew Harrison

It's Tuesday afternoon, the 26th of January and I'm somewhere over the Caribbean en route to Miami. I'm tired. I'm filled with anxiousness as we move toward the next phase of disaster relief for Haiti. The assessment team was present with the Haitian Lutherans. The team listened. The team saw what needed to be seen. Those of us who remained working in Jimani at the hospital have a very clear understanding of the medical issues which will be faced as we move to establish a temporary hospital in Jacmel, which is the heart of the Lutheran areas in Haiti, and the heart of an area underserved.

Working with the Dominican World Mission team, we have a boat contracted to bring tents specifically requested by the partner church, including larger tents for a hospital, examination rooms, etc. A second Medical Mercy Team will hit the ground in Jacmel on Sunday. They will immediately begin treating wounds related to trauma, especially orthopedic issues. We know from our medical teams, and from the consultation provided by Jimani MMT member, Dr. William Maloney (from whose report I am borrowing liberally), that there is a four to six week period to properly treat broken bones, reset poorly treated breaks and treat infections and infected amputations in order to avoid longer term complications.

Childhood mortality from infectious disease will be on the increase do to the weakened state of many children who were already in a situation of compromised health before the quake. This will require an immediate vaccination effort. A mortality rate of as much as 30% can result in such situations. There is an immediate need for vitamin supplementation for at- risk children. Cholera, measles and meningitis outbreaks are likely and will need to be treated immediately. Acute malnutrition is likely for many, particularly due to the rapid increase in the number of orphans, loss of income, families, etc. LCMS World Relief will assist the local church in establishing food distribution in cooperation and coordination with the local church, and in proximity to the clinic(s). By the way, from all indications there is an abundance of available food in the Dominican, and every dollar saved on shipping costs buys another dollar of rice or beans while contributing to the local economies of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. And at the suggestion of President Kessa, and with the help of Ted Krey, we have secured a boat for regular food shipment from Santiago to Jacmel.

Over the period of 2-6 months there will be an overwhelming need for physical therapy, pastoral care and counseling, prosthetics, rehab, etc. The high number of amputations will require an aggressive prosthetics program. Traveling to developing countries (and this especially true of Haiti) one notices many individuals who have been handicapped by injury or birth defect, who live life begging and in squalor having little or usually no access to prosthetics and other treatment we take for granted in the U.S. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder counseling and training will be broadly needed, particularly for Haitian Lutheran clergy, health workers, aid workers and others.

Vocational assistance and housing will be long-term issues. It remains to be seen whether and what housing solutions come to the fore. There will no doubt be a large hodgepodge of housing solutions, most driven by the ingenuity and need of locals, but likely with relatively few dwellings being built with materials and methods meant to withstand future quakes. I well recall tent cities in many areas affected by the great Asian Tsunami, lasted for years. Micro-loan programs have been operated by LWR, LCMS World Relief and many partners for decades, and will be especially necessary in this situation. We must make every effort to train, serve and encourage talented and eager Haitians (of which, there is no shortage). They themselves are now, and will be the key force behind this effort at recovery. And these very talented individuals will arise from unlikely and very surprising places. It is they who hold the key to the future recovery and long-term improvement in their own country. LWR health kits and quilts, and later, school kits, will be vital treasures for months and months to come.

I noticed something while studying Jesus' actions to assist those in need. When the text uses the great word for "compassion" (splachnizesthai) of Jesus, his concern for the needy never stops at mere empathy. Jesus always acts. He never fails to act. So shall American Lutherans. Help us come alongside our old and soon to be new Haitian friends. Thrivent is offering matching dollars for gifts to LCMS World Relief, and to LWR. The Lutheran Foundation in St. Louis is now matching gifts to LCMS World Relief up to a total of $750,000!

Pastor Matthew Harrison
Executive Director, LCMS World Relief and Human Care
Board Member, LWR

Let us Pray

2010-01-26T16:10:00.001-05:00

Along with your gifts and requests to help the people of Haiti, many of you have sent along beautiful prayers. I’m pleased to announce that LWR has created a forum for you and others to share your prayers for the people of Haiti.

Take a moment to post a prayer if you feel so moved or read the prayers that others have posted.

I cannot say this enough (so I will say it again)—thank you, thank you, thank you for your overwhelming support, generosity and compassion in the face of this devastating disaster.

Leave it to the New Yorker

2010-01-26T11:03:00.000-05:00

In an earlier post I described briefly the chaos that ensued on I believe, the 23rd of January at the hospital compound in Jimani, when a significant tremor struck the area. 1500 patients and family members, doctors, nurses, children, locals, expatriates all ran for their lives and out of the buildings. One poor man jumped from the second story of the large orphanage turned to hospital. His leg had been amputated, but now his pelvis was fractured.

Rev. Ted Krey, who had been ministering to these people one by one for days (along with his incredibly capable team), said, "Just walk among the people and calm them." We went about praying, sitting, talking, singing, reassuring being present. After about 20 minutes a man stood up and began to lead the people in Creole hymns. The African style singing was a stark faith-filled contrast and antidote to the terror, weeping and fright now ebbing. Another fifteen minute or so later, a man stood from the second floor balcony with a bullhorn. He began shouting, telling the people to have courage, it is the end of the world. While I'd be hard pressed to reject the content of his eschatology ("When all these things begin to take place, look up for your redemption draweth nigh."), his preaching did anything but calm the crowd. And calm was what was needed as all the patients now needed to be re-triaged, having pulled loose bandages, I.V.s, damaged treated wounds, etc., scrambling out of the building.

Pastor Ted immediately suggested we begin handing out the meals to calm the crowd. It worked. One of the first one to whom I offered the Styrofoam container was an older Haitian man, stout with a majestic countenance. He sat next to his relatives more seriously hurt than himself, head in hand, weeping. As I extended the tray to him, he shook his head, "no." The crowd was completely calm again when a man (whether the same as the earlier one I do not know) climbed on top of a trailer, bullhorn in hand and began to try to stir up the crowd again. Neither do I know if he was intent on the same eschatological rant. In any case, the wheel-chaired Haitian immediately shouted to the young stirrer in Creole. Not knowing a lick of Creole, I'll offer a conjectured translation: "Sit down and shut up you fool! These people don't need this now!" His deep authoritative voice immediately accomplished its goal.

After all the meals had gone out, and the truck had run to get more, I sat on the sand in front of his wheel chair. I apologized, speaking only the few words of Spanish and French I know (If only I'd paid more attention to my French speaking Grandmother when she was alive), telling him I could not converse in those languages (much less Creole). He responded in crystal clear English. "No problem, we can speak in English." My eyes opened wide and a smile marked my face.

"Where did you learn such good English?"

"I live in New York, I was just down here vacationing, visiting my relatives."

"Some vacation," I responded! We had a nice chat about life, about God, about family. He hoped he and his injured wife (I believe) would leave for home (Long Island) the next day.

Even in the chaos of international disaster, it takes a New Yorker to get the job done. "Now shut up and sit down!"

The larger point is that the Haitians themselves and their Dominican neighbors will be the most significant leaders in responding to this disaster. And any long term and lasting improvement of lives which happen from the capacity built by accompanying, by coming along side the thousands upon thousands of still healthy, bright, effective Haitians who know their culture, and will be the key to a better future.

That's what LWR is about.

Pastor Matthew Harrison
Executive Director, LCMS World Relief and Human Care Board Member, LWR

Thank You

2010-01-26T09:42:00.003-05:00

More from the Rev. Matthew Harrison in the Dominican Republic

Monday, January 25 -- The team of LCMS docs just debriefed, packed themselves into two vans herein Jimani, Dominican Republic, and headed off on the six hour trip to thecapital and back home. What an amazing group!

Not a half hour ago, we were all together on the back porch of the largehome, which has been the erstwhile dorm for medical teams. The stories ofwho was with us, how they were assembled within hours, and then put on theground is amazing. The docs and nurses where high-level professionals,university instructors, emergency room doctors, and nurses--experts innumerous disciplines. As we talked, they were thankful, traumatized, joyous,exhausted, and emotional. They expressed profound struggle in dealing withthe carnage they had just walked into; and yet at the same time, profoundfaith in Jesus.

As the first tremor struck last night, and as the LCMS missionariesdelivered trucks full of meals, I was asked to guard the load until the wordwas given to disperse the precious cargo. I leaned against the tailgate, anda tall, mustached gentleman with an easy southern accent struck up aconversation. He was in his scrubs watching the chaos of 1500 Haitians whonot ten minutes earlier had scrambled for their lives out of the orphanageconverted to a hospital.

"Where ya from?" I asked.

"Georgia."

"Who ya with," I continued.

"I'm with a group called the LCMS. I never even knew theyexisted, had no idea what they did, but a friend of mine called and asked meto go. I've never been so impressed with a group of people in my life."

"That's great to hear," I said. "I'm with the LCMS too."

One of the seasoned emergency room docs struggled to get hold of what she'djust seen. She wept as she recounted the story of stepping off the bus lateat night this past Tuesday and jumping into the operating room. Her firstpatient was a young woman who lay bleeding to death on the floor. The teamworked and tried everything, but life was quickly ebbing. The woman hadlost her entire family. "What should I say to her?" the doc asked others inthe room? "Tell her it's o.k. . . . to go be with her family." She did so.
"Pastor, I don¹t know how to cope with this," she told me. I helped herbegin to process the matter in the context of the cross of Jesus. "Pastor,I¹m going back home now. The people I work with will not understand this.Patients where I work complain about everything. I just treated a woman whohad her arm guillotined with nothing but Tylenol as pain reliever, and shewas smiling at me, thanking me. I couldn't believe it. These people havelost everything, and they are so thankful."

As I was writing this, a doctor just appeared behind the building where I amsitting, moaning in anguish and pain about what he'd just experienced. Oneof our pastors was with him. He's just come from Port au Prince, isexhausted, overwhelmed, hasn't slept in days. The volume of trauma isinfinite. He feels great need to return.

In the midst of all this, the Haitians have shown amazing faith, regularlysinging hymns to Jesus as they huddle with their lone surviving child or anew friend on the ground or in the next bed over.

O blessed Jesus, have mercy upon your people. Cause this affliction tocease. Comfort the dying, the sick, and the traumatized. Uphold the faith,hearts, and hands of all those many who are were unharmed but now areassisting the needy, and also those who have come as angels of mercy. Amen.

No mind can comprehend this. "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom andknowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable hisways!" (Rom. 11:33).

We can only face tomorrow with the knowledge that the outpouring of love andblessing in the wake of this disaster is and will be one of the mostphenomenal acts of mercy in our time together on this earth.

Pastor Matthew Harrison
Executive Director, LCMS World Relief and Human Care
Board Member, LWR

Rev. Matthew. Harrison submits his second LWR post.

2010-01-25T09:02:00.000-05:00

I’ve never been so proud and humbled to be a member of the LCMS. When the LCMS assessment team arrived in Jimani on the southern Dominican/Haiti border, it was late. It was early morning before we got into bed for a very short night of sleep. Rev. Ted Krey, Rev. Walter, and Danelle Putnam greeted us with joy, laboring under the fatigue masked by adrenalin--just enough to sustain for days on end with little or no sleep. The LCMS WM team in the Dominican is incredible in any case, but in the past week they’ve shone with a compassion and determination under the most severe trials. We are at a hospital, which has performed some 500 major surgeries in the past four days, victims helicoptered in from Haiti. Ted Krey and his team have been a force for mercy and the Gospel, with real compassion.

Ted immediately figured out the logistics and delivery necessities of food and water for all patients and their families--1500 of them at distribution time. (That’s finding a need and filling it!). The Civil Defense Corps (a Dominican, mostly voluntary, organization) quickly assembled cooking facilities in the nearby town. Daily, Pastor Krey personally oversees and himself distributes water to everyone at every meal, and personally assists in the distribution of meals to all. Ready, young Haitians bunch behind the truck to disperse the Styrofoam containers of rice, beans, spaghetti, etc. in stacks of five or six. Between meals, Krey and his staff are tending to a hundred issues, questions, pastoral care concerns. In down time, they are speaking with people about Christ and bearing witness graciously through it all, consoling consciences wounded and sorrowful and hurting over mistakes and tensions and failings and weaknesses so prevalent in time of catastrophe. Make no mistake, food and water to victims of this tragedy are a critical, life-and-death issue. The initial mortality rate was high and fell dramatically when the LCMS medical team hit the ground with Pastor Krey at their side, though pastoral tasks have also included the purchase of caskets and transport of the deceased to the morgue and cemetery.

Ted moves through the crowds, completely understated, black collar with tab. He kneels, converses in fluent Spanish, and consoles, answers questions, finds aid, and solves problems. Last night, when a tremor threw everything into chaos, Ted was on the spot as 1500 patients and their families emptied the buildings. It’s vital for clergy to wear clericals in such times. The cross dangling from my neck has been the source of consolation, grasped in hands by those who do not understand my prayers to Jesus for them, yet understood fully. A protestant pastor in street clothes pulled me aside as I worked through the crowd alongside Ted and Walter. “Hey! I’m a ____ pastor! If you need some help, come and get me.” A well meaning and pious Christian to be sure, and God bless him for coming . . . but he was quickly lost in the crowd, and to me.

This is an amazing example of fidelity in word and deed in the midst of a chaotic, often crazy situation with the broadest representation of faiths--Christians and non-Christians (including the emergency workers). It is once again the strongest affirmation that there is no substitute for Lutheran accompaniment. Be present, act, love, serve. That’s the Jesus route in time of disaster.

Give generously. There is a whole lot of accompaniment coming.

LCMS.org, LWR.org

Matt Harrison
Executive Director, LCMS World Relief and Human Care
LWR Board Member

On the Ground

2010-01-23T12:01:00.003-05:00

The Rev. Matthew Harrison, Executive Director of LCMS World Relief and Human Care and a member of LWR's board of directors, is on the ground working with earthquake survivors, and offers this report and his reflections.

John, Friends of LWR, Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Already last Tuesday a team of a dozen triage and emergency medical specialists hit the ground here in Jimani, in the far southwest Dominican. This LCMS World Relief and Human Care medical mercy team arrived late in the evening after a six hour drive from Santa Domingo. A team of helicopters, financed by a generous individual, had been and continues to fly in victims of the quake. Port au Prince is some 50 miles distant, across the Haitian Border.

I write this morning at 8:30 a.m. from the veranda of a large vacant home, which now houses forty or fifty medical professionals, including the LCMS team. The hospital runs on two shifts, and performs about 40 surgeries per shift. About one third of the procedures have been amputations. Large relief agencies are beginning to arrive on the scene from Puerto Rico and other places, and the LCMS team will exit later today. It's amazing how God times things. They came at a moment of burgeoning numbers of casualties arriving, and fatalities taking place at a very high rate. For two critical nights the LCMS team staffed much of and ran the operation.

I am in awe of these faithful folks. As I remained in Jimani, an assessment team from the LCMS entered Haiti with LCMS partners who met us at the border, and proceeded to Jacmel and Port au Prince. Seasoned disaster man Glenn Merritt, in Jacmel as I write, expressed his thoughts briefly but ominously: "I have seen things today that no person should ever have to see."

Last night was traumatic for the 1500 Haitians here at the medical compound. Around 6:00 p.m. a tremor shook the area. Everyone fled for their lives into the yard in front of the buildings. There was widespread mourning and weeping, fear in the eyes of little children, old men looking skyward and shaking their heads. All the patients had to be re-triaged because they had pulled the I.V.s from their arms. Amputees crawled out of a makeshift recovery ward in an open-air chapel. It was pandemonium.

LCMS Missionary Ted Krey (nephew of LWR board member Phil Krey), quickly urged all of us clergy to make our way among the large crowd, comforting and praying with the people. The three languages among the people are Creole, French and Spanish. I came upon a little girl and her mother. The child was but 5 or so, and had a pelvic body cast which extended down both legs, as well as an arm cast. She was terrified. I reached down to touch here and bless her in the name of Jesus (it's so important to have one's clericals and crucifix on), and she grabbed my hand, and pulled on my arm, pleading with me. I sat with her for twenty minutes. I prayed, I tried to speak comfort to her and her mother. I sang 'I am Jesus Little Lamb' and her breathing slowed.

Finally Brazilian Missionary Pastor Walter chanced by in the melee. "Walter, what does she want." "She is asking if you have some way to take her and her mother away from here." I did not. But she had been cared for, her life spared. Many others have not been so fortunate. Thankfully there has as yet been little or no incidence of Typhoid or other infectious diseases. But as I've talked with the surgeons in-between shifts, there has been great concern over secondary infections, particularly with amputees, and the inevitable absence of physical therapy and prosthetics, much less care in the wake of the trauma which will accompany these dear people for the rest of their days.

As I finish the helicopters are up again, there are reports of completely insufficient aid into Jacmal (where most of our Lutherans live). Water of course is a critical issue after just 2 or three days, food after two weeks. Those who have been on the ground here repeatedly express how each day the chaos has become a little more controlled, and that reality is going on throughout Haiti.

It will be vital for LWR for carry out its invaluable mission, particularly in the area of its forte, material goods (school kits, medical kits) as the crisis enters its intermediate phase. And LWR's tremendous capacity for building and assisting communities in obtaining economic capacity and security long term, will be a vital mission for year to come.

Last week Pat Robertson suggested that Haiti had some deep dark sin in its past, which brought this curse. In God's inverted, cruciform economy, where a sinless Son of God suffers for the unrighteous, I rather think this is God's shaking of us sinners in the U.S., for ignoring our impoverished brothers and sisters, also brothers and sisters in the faith in Haiti. Lord have mercy.

Matt Harrison, Executive Director, LCMS World Relief and Human Care; Board Member, LWR

No Small Act

2010-01-21T15:19:00.001-05:00

Our supporters continue to bless us with prayers and stories about how they are putting their faith into action on behalf of the people of Haiti.

I share the following story as a reminder that there are no “small” acts of compassion. And no small “actors.”

This is Mario Carmona. He’s nine years old and from Minnesota. Being a child (and thus, unemployed, as children tend to be) Mario didn’t have much himself to give to the people of Haiti. But he did have a voice and he decided to use it.

Carrying a simple plastic ice cream bucket, Mario began to go door-to-door, asking his neighbors to give what they could to help the people of Haiti. When he had visited all his neighbors, he decided to talk to people at his church.Once he’d talked to his church, he talked to his school principal about raising money for the people of Haiti. Mario’s bucket filled quickly.

Mario’s story inspires me, but not only because of his apparent compassion and generosity. Instead of feeling disempowered or disconnected, as we can often come to feel in times of crisis, this young man decided to take action, to find his own unique way to help and in doing so he empowered others to join him.

We thank Mario and everyone who has given a gift to Lutheran World Relief in support of the people of Haiti. Please know that your gifts, big and small, are helping to sustain lives and inspire hope through Haiti’s darkest days.

Quilt and Kit Partners Joiningin Support of Haiti

2010-01-21T08:20:00.001-05:00

The response to the January 12 earthquake in Haiti has been astonishing, with prayers and gifts reaching LWR and the people in Haiti who face so much suffering. Yesterday, one of Lutheran World Relief’s quilt and kit partners joined this effort as well.

LWR had planned to send $1 million worth of quilts and kits to those in need in Sierra Leone. The materials were to be distributed to people in need in one of the poorest countries in the world.

Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti and the mounting needs there, LWR contacted its partner, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sierra Leone (ELCSL), and asked to reduce this shipment by half. LWR explained the critical need to provide immediate support to the people of Haiti, and offered to send more materials to ELCSL at a later time, when its stocks are replenished.

While an organization in a similar situation might express reservations – the needs in Sierra Leone are also great – the ELCSL responded with gratitude. The Bishop of the ELCSL, Reverend Thomas J. Barnett, wrote that LWR’s request “creates an opportunity and fulfills for us a burning desire to give a helping hand to the people of Haiti in this, their hour of greatest need.”

ELCSL’s generosity translates to more than 30,000 quilts and 6,500 health kits for people affected by the earthquake. More than 3,000 school kits will also be provided once education is re-established in Haiti.

ELCSL’s act of giving and prayerful support is exemplary of the global Lutheran response to provide comfort and save the lives of the people in Haiti affected by the earthquake.

Experience at the Epicenter

2010-01-20T08:59:00.000-05:00

As aftershocks continue to rock the traumatized island-nation of Haiti, LWR continues steadily to coordinate the best and wisest response. We are blessed with 65 years of experience which makes a difference when you’re dealing with a disaster. Our institutional memory, accrued expertise and depth of technical networks have advised us through this utterly devastating crisis.

More and more stories of LWR’s reputation and legacy of putting faith into action come to my attention. Listen to a Jarrod Garland, whom I met while preaching this weekend at a dynamically compassionate congregation, King of Kings Lutheran Church in Omaha, Nebraska.

Every resource we have available to us, including our experience, is being implemented as we channel Lutheran relief efforts to rebuild this desperate place, starting at the epicenter of human suffering.

Reaching Out

2010-01-18T13:57:00.002-05:00

Your response to the devastating earthquake in Haiti has been phenomenal. Thank you for the prayers you’ve sent both for those affected and for our staff working on the ground to help. Thank you also for making use of the various ways to give so that we can continue the work to bring water, food, and shelter to the people of Haiti.

Now it is time to reach out. Our partners at Lutheran World Federation (LWF) have been working on the ground to construct a clearer picture of the needs on the ground. What they are seeing is that while things are bad in the city of Port-au-Prince, there is also extensive damage to surrounding rural areas.

Right now most of the relief effort in Haiti is concentrated in Port-au-Prince and few, if any, relief organizations are working to attend to the needs of rural communities in the aftermath of the earthquake. Work with LWF and other partners, LWR will reach out to communities in the surrounding areas, who are just as severely affected as their urban counterparts.

These “last mile” communities were already blighted by poverty, hunger, and lack of opportunity. This disaster makes these communities so much more vulnerable and we are working hard to reach them.

I am also heartened to report that tomorrow, along with our partners at Church World Service, we will be sending a shipment of material aid to Haiti. In this shipment we’re including health kits and layettes, both items that will promote sanitation and good health in the midst of this crisis. The needs on the ground are so great that we’d like to send another shipment of quilts and health kits soon, but to do this we need your help.

Our stock of health kits is critically low. With so many homeless and in need, for every health kit we give, there are many more families who need one. Please consider donating health kits to LWR so that we can continue to meet needs in Haiti and around the world.
Please continue to keep the people of Haiti in your prayers and please continue to support the work of LWR and its partners around the world as we work to reach “the least of these” with your gifts of love and compassion.

Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria, courtesy www.alertnet.org.

Loving Care from Omaha

2010-01-17T19:41:00.004-05:00

I had the great fortune to visit the King of Kings congregation in Omaha, Nebraska, this weekend – what a wonderful, globally minded, loving congregation. The visit had been planned for a long while, and, given the events of this week, I frankly wondered if perhaps I ought to cancel. But I’m so glad I went. In the midst of such a difficult time, such a tumultuous and painful week, it did my soul good to witness the loving care and generosity of God’s children in this congregation.

Thank you, King of Kings, for your love offering to help the people of Haiti. Thank you for being among the first to donate through our new text-to-give service. Thank you for ministering to me, even as we at LWR work to minister to those in such desperate need in Haiti.
Soon I’ll be sharing some video clips of a few members of King of Kings that I met and spoke with this weekend. In the meantime, I invite you to follow the link below to listen to the message I shared with them on Sunday morning.

http://www.kingofkingsomaha.org/pages/page.asp?page_id=47824

Prayerful Support

2010-01-16T15:30:00.000-05:00

Since LWR began responding to the earthquake in Haiti, we have received an overwhelming number of thoughts and prayers, both for the people of Haiti and for LWR as we work to respond.

This disaster in particular has struck a chord within many hearts, perhaps because the existence of such abject poverty that has persisted in Haiti for centuries is tragic enough. To have such utter and complete destruction heaped on top of it seems unbearable.

I’d like to share just a few of the many thoughts and prayers that our friends are sharing with us. If you have any words to share, please feel free to leave a note in the comments. We thank you for all your prayers. Please know that we are working hard to get to people with life-saving relief.

“For Haiti earthquake - May God move many to help. Lord in your mercy hear our prayers for the people in Haiti and the rescue workers.”

“May God be with all those who are suffering in Haiti and to those who are helping those in need.”

“Thank you LWR for all that you do in Jesus Name to help the souls of Haiti.”

Lutherans Around the World Respond to Haiti

2010-01-15T16:16:00.002-05:00

Eberhard Hitzler, Executive Director of LWF's Division for World Service

“You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay O my God.” Psalm 40:11

Thankfully, US Lutherans are not delaying in their concern and care for the people of Haiti. LWR’s phone is ringing, the mailbox is filling and the web site is receiving record hits. Why? Because all of us are a part of the answer to the prayers of millions of Haitians whose needs are so great. We cannot delay our support and action.

I am thrilled to hear that our partners the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) find themselves in similar situations.

I am thankful that another of our core partners—Lutheran World Federation (LWF) which has not delayed as they begin to stage a massive response to the situation in Haiti. I just got off the phone with Eberhard Hitzler, Lutheran World Federation’s (LWF) Executive Director for World Service. (You might recognize Eberhard’s name because he frequently reads and comments on my blog. He is a dear friend.)

I always come away enriched, challenged and motivated from my conversations with Eberhard, but, today I was particularly struck by one of Eberhard’s comments. He said, “The earthquake in Haiti was a devastating event. But, for many of those living in Haiti the situation before the earthquake was also horrible. Maybe now we can all assist the Haitian people in rebuilding a country that becomes better than it has ever been.”

It is clear that the rescue, recovery and rebuilding efforts in Haiti will be vast. LWF is gearing up for a massive operation that will require significant financial resources. Before we hung up, Eberhard offered one final call to Lutherans around the world: “When it comes to the earthquake in Haiti—think beyond this moment. We must view this and work with the long-term perspective in mind.”

Sobering thoughts of Haiti

2010-01-15T10:10:00.001-05:00

Rescuers treat an injured child. REUTERS/Reuters TV, courtesy www.alertnet.org.

You have surely seen the iconic image on the news—the now dilapidated presidential palace in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital city.

If the 7.0 magnitude earthquake destroyed one of the country’s sturdiest buildings, imagine what it has done to the humble homes in which the majority of Haitians reside. Imagine the terror the people must have felt as the earth moved beneath them and kept moving in intervals throughout the night and the next morning. Imagine the suffering this impoverished country must now feel, surrounded by destruction and despair.

Thousands are feared dead, thousands more are injured, and many sleep outside with no food or water because they have no place else to go.

Please keep the people of Haiti in your prayers and help LWR respond with life-saving relief.

Your compassion means so much in these difficult times.

Doing the Work of Christmas

2010-01-11T09:31:00.000-05:00

That vivacious vicar, Thurman Frey, joined by Carol, his indomitable wife, and the faithful flock of Holy Cross Lutheran Church warmed me a cold morning. Welcomed to this Towson congregation, I preached a message spotlighting LWR’s work. Predictably, on this celebration of the Baptism of our Lord, “water” flowed as a theme, its life-giving character, the fatal implications of its global scarcity, and the power of its regenerative, spiritual dimensions.

Prior to the worship, I led an adult information session regarding LWR’s mission. Members from two other, neighboring churches—First Lutheran (LCMS) and Ascension Lutheran (ELCA)—were drawn to the host Holy Cross congregation for this time of deeper engagement. The dialogue was probing, especially regarding the impact of sustainable development strategies that are both anti-poverty and pro-people by investing in human capacity.

The twelve days of Christmas have ended until next year, but we labor year-round in the light of its radiance. A quotation from Howard Thurman, a mentor to Martin Luther King, Jr., appeared in the Holy Cross bulletin entitled, “The Work of Christmas.”

When the star in the sky is gone,
When the Kings and Princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost
To heal the broken
To feed the hungry
To release the prisoner
To teach the nations
To bring Christ to all
To make music in the heart.

The photograph, taken with a handy camera phone, depicts Holy Cross’ chancel window.

Going the Extra Mile for the Sake of the Last Mile

2009-12-30T10:30:00.005-05:00

From left to right in the photograph: Dezman, Fran, Debbie, Fred and James.

A common description of where LWR works is the "last mile." Thismission sounds geographical, but it's more; it refers to our focus onpeople whose reality is marginalization. Sometimes they're experiencingoppression. Often, they're living in isolation, and invariably thesesurvivors have little without access to opportunity or training. Rural dwellers as I have witnessed them in South Asia, East and West Africa and Latin America are hard working women and men. But because of their last mile status, they often lose as much ground as they gain--and their families, especially children, suffer the most. LWR is investing in the creative capacity of these communities to claw their way out of poverty.

That's what motivates this team in the photograph at LWR headquarters in Baltimore, MD, USA. By-passing their Christmas break this week, this mission advancement crew is at their desks when almost all of their colleagues have the time off. Arriving by mail, over the phone and via the Internet are thousands of gifts from people across the United States who want their donations to make a positive difference in the world. LWR is grateful for such compassionate giving at Christmas and all year round. And, we are very proud of our commitment to carefully and quickly process these gifts while also offering thanks for each individual contribution.

So, kudos to these colleagues this week, they're going the extra mile for the sake of those at the last mile.

Boxing Day Returns

2009-12-26T21:10:00.007-05:00

This morning, the day after Christmas, as I boiled water for breakfast oatmeal, the Wall Street Journal arrived with a page one article mentioning a Victorian tradition I grew up with called Boxing Day. My Canadian mother and my Jamaican father, and millions throughout the former British Commonwealth, set aside the day after Christmas to box up (as the day’s name suggestions) leftover food and other items for the less fortunate. One LWR colleague, Joanne Fairley, who grew up in Australia, has experiences similar to mine. Our chats over the years about similar imperial childhoods—though separated by thousands of miles—along with today’s WSJ article prompt good memories for me.

Nowadays, the day after Christmas is reserved by many for returning gifts, taking back less desirable, duplicate or non-fitting merchandise for refunds or exchanges. Today as I write from the safety of home, my thoughts go to those braver ones than I who face frazzled clerks at hectic malls to get in on hot holiday sales. Not that commerce and compassion are necessarily mutually exclusive, but often mercantilism trumps humanitarianism.

Five years ago today, the South-Asian Tsunami destroyed the lives of millions. Moved by the love of Christ, it also launched an unprecedented response of post-Christmas giving to Lutheran World Relief. That same Joanne Fairley is the regional director, overseeing the intensive program that channels the financial contributions of U.S. Lutherans and others, investing them in the on-going rebuilding of the impacted communities of Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Indian.

No wants to see a return of a Tsunami, but I have visited LWR’s work and I know that these communities are better prepared for what will be an inevitable next big wave. (For more information on LWR's tsunami-related work, see: www.lwr.org/tsunami ) Neither do I, who bear proudly a postcolonial worldview, wish to see a return of the British Empire, but the return of some Boxing Day charity strikes me as more than sentimentalism. It would be one small way to make this busy world a better place.

Merry Christmas from Lutheran World Relief

2009-12-25T13:14:00.004-05:00

Merry Christmas from Lutheran World Relief

“Such good food, and so much!” remarked a recent dinner guest. But what was most remarkable was only the first course of salads had been served.

The line of reasoning for this blog entry is likely pretty obvious: “… and may there be a goodly share on every table everywhere,” we pray. Everywhere LWR works, we operate in ways that help others to grow their own fair share of food.

I invite you to pause in the midst of your own plenty today and give one more Christmas gift—one that helps fill an empty table somewhere. http://lwrgifts.org/

LWR Gifts allows you to give gifts today and throughout the year for those in need around the world.

Blessings to you and those you love this Christmas day!

Stories from Gumutindo

2009-12-21T16:11:00.002-05:00

LWR Fair Trade Coordinator Kattie Somerfeld recently traveled to Uganda to visit the farmers of the Gumutindo Coffee Growers’ Federation and learn about how LWR works to help farmers improve crops and increase income. Thanks, Kattie for sharing your thoughts with us!

I visited Uganda to see the work LWR does with the farmers of the Gumutindo coffee growers’ federation, a collective of coffee farmers who grow the coffee used in the Organic Fellowship blend, one of the many offerings of the LWR Coffee Project.

It’s one thing to know intellectually how Fair Trade benefits farmers and their communities. Farmers receive a guaranteed minimum price for their crops. Their cooperatives receive social premiums—additional money to invest in the community often used to build schools and medical clinics, and provide clean water.

It’s another thing to feel it. Visiting their farms, seeing their crops, and hearing them describe the changes in their lives… it touches something deep in your heart and connects you directly to these people whose lives are being changed.

Let me share just two examples of incredibly strong women who have greatly benefitted form Fair Trade and LWR.

The first is Bira Nagwere. Bira has a beautiful farm, growing coffee as her main cash crop and supplementing her diet and income with chickens, cows, fruit and other crops. She manages the entire farm herself, putting in long hours to tend her plants, feed her animals, and take care of her children and grandchildren.

The second is Justine Watalunga (pictured). Justine also sells coffee as her main crop and supplements it with bananas, beans, maize, cocoa yams, sweet potatoes and cassava. She also raises cows and goats for milk and meat, and chickens for eggs and meat. Between taking care of her 6 children and tending to her farm, she also volunteers at a school for children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic.

Both women struggled to grow coffee before working with LWR and partners. Their trees did not yield much and the quality of the beans did not draw a high price. Both wanted to send their children to school to get an education.

LWR and partners are working with farmers in the area to learn to better care for their coffee trees—to plant and prune them properly, to use manure for fertilizer, and to process their coffee to maximize quality and get a better price.

Both women report that their hard work is paying off—since they began working with the LWR project two years ago, their yields have about quadrupled and their higher quality beans sell for twice the price.

But you get a sense of the real impact when they speak about their children—about how ALL of their children (and all of Bira’s grandchildren) are going to school. Justine is able to send all six of her children to school, which is no easy feat. School fees for her family are about $1,250 a year. Now, with the income she earns, she is able to not only send her children to school, she can also save money to use in case of emergencies

I asked every farmer I spoke with what they would like to tell Lutherans in the U.S. who drink their coffee. Each person expressed profound gratitude and asked Lutherans to continue buying their coffee—but not simply because it benefits their lives and communities. The farmers of Gumutindo take great pride in the work they do, the coffee they produce. One farmer summed it up well by saying, “we work hard to produce the best coffee possible. That is why you should drink our coffee.”

"Just a farmer that liked to work"

2009-12-15T07:21:00.003-05:00

More from Lisa Bonds in Colombia

"He was just a farmer that liked to work."
Albertina Bahena, this entry is for you and for the memory of your father.

I joined my Lutheran World Relief colleagues and Rosario Montoya, the Director of Fundacion Infancia Feliz, in a visit to the "Finca la Alemania," the German farm (no one is sure why it is called the German farm). As we drove to the farm, Rosario briefed us on the farm's history and the people who had recently returned to the farm after having been displaced by one of the most feared paramilitary leaders, called "the Chain," in the state of Cordoba.

Like many other paramilitary leaders, the Chain used the farm as a place to torture and kill people who tried to resist or who were wrongfully accused of many different things. Rosario cried as she told us that the community had recently found yet another mass grave on the German farm.

The farmers (men and women) were waiting for us under a large tree nearby that overlooked some of the most beautiful and bucolic farm land I have ever seen. Each introduced themselves to us and I was struck by the pride that oozed from their pores as they ended their introductions with, "and I am a campesino (farmer). 100%."

LWR and Fundacion Infancia Feliz are working with this community to get legal title to their land and to improve their agricultural production. We heard many stories of excitement at being back on the farm, of how they felt whole again now that they were working the soil, and, of course, many stories of the violence they suffered at the hands of the paramilitaries. One story in particular made the group fall silent, the story Albertina Bahena told about her father and his presumed death at the hands of the paramilitaries.

Many of the stories I have heard this week have been heartbreaking. All of them have touched me and I have felt honored to hear these very personal stories of love and loss. Because I feel like a big piece of my soul lives on my own family's farm and because I am so close to my dad, I was particularly touched by Albertina's story.

The best way I can think of to honor Albertina's story and her love for her father is to offer you her unedited story here.

As you read her story, imagine her standing underneath a large mango tree, surrounded by other farmers from her community. Imagine a strong, clear voice coming from a very petite woman. Imagine her insistence that she tell this difficult story and the many times she had to stop to let the tears flow. Imagine a woman of incredible strength ensuring that her father's memory lives on.

Albertina Bahena's story:

When I talk about my father I cry a lot. My dad, he was disappeared [Disappeared is a term used in Colombia to describe people who were kidnapped by the paramilitaries and never returned. In a few cases, their bodies are found. But, in many cases, like Albertina's, families live without ever seeing their family members again--alive or dead.]

My dad lived with my mom on this farm. On a Tuesday he sent my mom to visit her mother a short distance away. They took him on Thursday of that same week. My mom has never gotten over being gone when they took him. She cries a lot and is very sad that she didn't get to say goodbye to him.

When they took him, they stripped him of all of his clothes except his underwear. They tied him up and carried him around so that people would see him tied up. I can't stand that so many people saw him humiliated like that. He was a very proud man. Everyone saw him in such a bad way. They dragged him around like an animal.

They took him into the farm house and tortured him for hours. Then they paraded him around again -- this time whipping him with wire and telling everyone that if they tried to help him -- they would die the same, tortured death he faced.

We never saw him again. My brother and my uncle went to look for him. After a few days, the paramilitaries captured them and told him to stop looking for him. They said that if my brother and uncle looked for him or asked others about him, the same thing that happened to my dad would happen to them and everyone else in the family they could find.

We still haven't found him.

They took everything of his. We have nothing left of him -- no photo, no shirt -- nothing.

He was a really good man and I know that his friends standing here with me would say that about him.

When my dad died, I thought that I had lost everything. My husband kept telling me, "No. You haven't, you must keep going." Now my husband and I care for my four younger siblings and our own children. I am not ready to move back to the farm yet. I ride my bicycle for two hours each day to get to the farm so I can work in these fields. At the end of the day, I ride my bicycle for two hours to get home and care for my family.

Please remember my father. Take his story back with you. He was a really good man and I know that his friends standing here with me would say that about him.

He was just a farmer that liked to work.

I miss him so much.

What would YOU do?

2009-12-14T08:44:00.003-05:00

New Hope, Indeed.

2009-12-11T10:30:00.007-05:00

more from Lisa Bonds in Colombia

What do you do when a 12-year-old displaced person gives you her house?

In my travels to visit Lutheran World Relief projects, partners and the people we serve around the world, I have received many incredible gifts. Each time we leave a community, it seems like we leave with an embarrassment of riches–hand-crafted jewelry, traditional clothing, books and food. I always wish I had something to give to the people I meet, but it would be impossible to bring something for everyone. And then there’s the question of what I would bring that would mean as much as what I have received. And, after today, I know I could never give anything that would means as much as a gift I received from 12-year-old Kattie. Kattie and her mother, Elizabeth, live in the New Hope Community just outside of Tierralta in the Colombian state of Cordoba.

In the last few years, thousands of Colombian farmers have been displaced from their land. Sometimes the community, the church or the people receive written death threats from paramilitary leaders giving them 24 to 48 hours to leave their home, their land and their only source of income—their farms. In other cases, communities are raided in the middle of the night by gun-carrying paramilitaries who demand that everyone leave immediately. And, all too often, paramilitaries kill one or many community leaders as a “message” that no one is safe in this community and all must leave.

In Kattie’s case, she and her mother were displaced because their farming community was caught in the crossfire between two warring paramilitary groups. Had they not fled from their home and their community immediately, they likely would have been killed. Kattie and her mother fled their farm and made their way with the rest of their community members (about 75 people) to Tierralta because they heard that a church, Cristo el Rey, helped displaced communities. The members and pastor of Cristo el Rey helped the community members find temporary shelter at a school. Life at the school was safe but far from comfortable. Five or six families lived in a classroom. Access to water and sanitation was spotty and it seemed like there was never enough food to feed everyone.

Over time, Cristo el Rey has helped so many displaced people they knew that they needed to formalize their processes and work on ways to get people more permanent housing and the tools they needed to make a living. They formed a community-based organization, the Corporation for Community Social Development (CORSOC), and LWR began to partner with them to assist displaced people in rebuilding their lives and advocating for their rights.

Today, in the midst of so much violence and grief we visited a place full of peace and laughter, the New Hope community. LWR and CORSOC worked with Kattie’s community to build the entirely new village of New Hope. The houses have traditional thatched roofs, hammocks for sleeping, and a covered front porch of sorts where we talked to many of the residents.

We stopped to admire Elizabeth and Kattie’s garden and to talk with them about their experience. As we talked with Kattie and her mother I noticed a perfect, dollhouse-sized replica of their house hanging on the wall. I asked if I could take a photograph of the house and Elizabeth, Kattie’s mom, proudly explained to me that Kattie had created it all by herself. When I asked Kattie about it, she said that her new house was so comfortable and beautiful, she wanted to make a replica of it for her art class. I admired the replica as Kattie explained how she gathered materials to build it.

We left Kattie’s house and continued our tour of the community. About an hour later, as we got in the van to leave, many of the residents ran to the van, offering us even more gifts—fresh eggplants, green beans, giant okra and other goodies from their gardens. Just before we pulled off, Kattie and her mom ran to the roadside, carrying the replica of their house. I gave Kattie and her mom a hug, thanked them for allowing me into their home, and wished them well. Kattie pulled on my hand and put it on the house she had built and said, “I want you to remember me so I want give you me house.” I didn’t think I should accept such a precious gift, but, our Colombia Program Manager, Zoraida, let me know that it was okay – that I should accept the gift. So, what do you do when a 12-year-old displaced person gives you her house? You hug her and say thank you. She doesn’t have to worry about me forgetting her, there’s no way I could ever forget her or her community – New Hope indeed.