An Oasis of Love
Read: UM Hymnal #445 - Happy the Home when God is There
In the winter of 1995, I was on assignment in Haiti covering Operation Restore Democracy. I was embedded with a military unit outside Port Au Prince and I quickly came to understand that my life of tents, cots, mosquito nets and c-rations was better than the life being lived by most of the Haitian population. Haiti is one of the poorest nations on earth and about 80 percent of the people live in abject poverty. I walked the streets of Port Au Prince and watched children (children the age of my children at home) playing in raw sewage in the streets. Riding the highways, I was always amazed at the number of people standing in the middle of empty fields, nothing to do, no place to go. And I had hard time figuring out what compelling interest the United States had in sending its military forces into a place of such despair and wretchedness.
Toward the end of my assignment, I was told the unit was going to visit an orphanage. A Haitian orphanage? After all I had already seen, I wasn't sure I could take that. And I was filled with dread as our small convoy wound up a hillside toward a high black iron gate.
I was astonished (and relieved) to find that it was the happiest place I saw during my entire stay. We were greeted by a round of cheerful songs, clapping hands and beautiful, happy young faces. And as they sang to us, it dawned on me that this was a happy place because these children had someone taking care of them, someone who loved them. That was saying something in Haiti. And there were actually kids standing on the outside of that black iron gate wishing they were inside.
That orphanage has become a metaphor in my life.
Lord, help me to be like that orphanage. Help me to be a refuge for those in need, a shelter for those needing protection, and a bounty for those who are hungry. Make me an oasis of love in an arid world of indifference. Amen.
Devin Scillian
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