"Awful" Is Relative

Being involved in relief and missions work in Haiti is both a good and a bad thing. Haiti is the kind of place that elicits travel warnings from countries like ours. Even before the earthquake people were warned about traveling there for a variety of reasons. The H.I.V. rate in Haiti is very high, as is the child mortality rate. Clean water is scarce and jobs even more so. Haiti is a place best described as simply awful. To drive through Port-Au-Prince is to be heartbroken as one sees humanity at its worst subsistence levels. It only takes one orphaned, homeless child living in a hole left by collapsed rubble to make you cry.

On the other hand Haiti is a great place to practice Christianity. Baptist churches are quite prominent in Haiti and Baptists have been at the forefront of relief work in the stricken areas. I have to say that working and living amongst Haitians was an exhilarating experience. To have the privilege of providing medicines and basic life supplies to people who might otherwise die is one of life’s few holy ground moments. To share this experience with fellow church members was also special, as was being able to tell those being helped that a church in the U.S. cares deeply for you. Sadly, however, we left Haiti only microscopically better than we found it. In reality Haiti remains a truly awful place. The majority of Americans would have trouble assimilating the realities faced by Haitians in simply trying to stay alive from one day to the next. It’s such a foreign concept to us that it might as well be an episode of the Twilight Zone. One has to see it to adequately believe it.

Haiti isn’t alone as being an awful place. Right now the Gulf Coast of the United States is an awful place. Crude oil being pumped directly into the ocean is causing long lasting damage to the already fragile eco-systems and shorelines. It may take decades to undo all of the damage being done, not to mention the price tag that will total in the billions of dollars (which will be passed down to consumers as no corporate jets will be lost due to the unfortunate oil spill). There are plenty of other awful places as well; Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Egypt, India, North Korea, Singapore, Chile…and the list could go on. Awful is relative and no one place or people group has cornered that market.

So, how should we deal with this awfulness? As Christians we cannot act as if it doesn’t exist; nor can we lay it off on the people who are suffering. Pat Robertson’s verbalized stupidity that Haiti made a pact with the devil and as a result received a well-deserved earthquake is beyond the pale. There is voodoo in Haiti. I’ve heard the drums and the chants. I have also seen people praising God and going without food in order to take care of an orphan. Jesus never laid blame on those who were suffering. Awful was the reason Jesus spent so much time with the sick and afflicted. Blame, no. Action, yes. Action is the only weapon Christians have against awful. Pray, give and go are three words that Christians in the United States should take to heart. Everyone can pray; many can give to support life-saving work and ministries already in place in most of the world’s truly awful areas; others can take the time and expense to go and help out in person.

Awful is a relative term that doesn’t have to define large chunks of our world. If we all do our part awful could become obsolete. Then we could move to better, and beyond. I’m convinced this is what Jesus would do.

Michael McCullar