Wrecked and Shattered

That's how my soul feels right now. If you think I was in a highly emotional state the last time I posted you should see me now. I went to Mars Hill Church today because I heard the pastor went to Haiti and spent 32 hours there (that's all he was allowed to stay in the country). I knew it was going to be sad but wow...

Mind you, they (the pastor of this church and a pastor from another church) took a camera crew with them. We were watching what really happened. Within two hours of being there, right after handing out ice cream to some kids at a school that was partially destroyed just on the other side of the wall a man got shot in the head. And we saw it.

They went to another church that was completely destroyed. We watched them dig out the worship leader and put him in a coffin. He had been buried for a week before they got him out.

They went to basically a tent city created at one of the only church compounds not destroyed. There was a man, a theology professor at the seminary that feeds into this church compound. He was teaching at the seminary when he felt a tremor and went outside to see what was going on. After he went outside the earthquake took its toll and brought down the church. His wife was inside and died. The man went home to check on his kids and thankfully all four of them were okay. It was five days before he could dig out his wife and have a funeral. He has no home, no wife, no church...and yet he smiled. Because he said that he still had joy in the Lord for he could see his wife in Heaven and will be able to tell her all the stories of her boys growing up.

There were dead bodies laying in the roads for hours, sometimes days. No one even took a second glance because it's so common now. Bulldozers were going around picking up bodies and putting them into dump trucks. Riots were breaking out when water trucks ran out of water. The only business open was coffin making. There was a woman who had an open wound on her face from where a big piece of rock hit her and all she could do was lay under a tarped area, head on a cinder block, and try to ignore the pain even though the infection was extremely visible and festering.

Relief and aid planes were circling the airport, sometimes for hours, and decided to go home because they couldn't land. Riots were a constant outside the airport. They told the crew that once you go outside they can't come back in because they can't control the people outside.

An usher was holding a shotgun while watching over the women and children sleeping outside of a church because men would try to kidnap or rape them. The usher admitted that he's had to shoot a few people, some of which died because of it. An usher in front of a church...

I may be going through a ton of stuff right now but I'm nowhere near as hurt and lost as the people of Haiti right now. Everyday death. Everyday destruction. Everyday sorrow. Everyday a new chance for hope.