Made Witness To

Tuesday night at conference the Reverend James Gulley spoke with the assembly about Haiti, the earthquake that devastated that nation and his experiences being trapped beneath a pile of rubble for 55 hours. Here I make you a witness to his story through the re-telling.

First I want to thank you for your support to Haiti through the Haiti Emergency Advance [#418325], for donation of kits, and for volunteering to physically go to Haiti. The Virginia Conference donated $1,513,220.72 in aide to Haiti after the earthquake. Thank you. I am here because of Haiti and experienced something few of us ever experience - an earthquake. And we ask ourselves 'why?'. Some of the first questions I am asked is 'What were you doing in Haiti?', "Why should I be concerned with Haiti?', and 'What good news can come from Haiti?'

I arrived in Haiti on June 12th, at the behest of Sam Dixon, and went to the Montana Hotel just before 5:00 pm. We had gathered in the lobby. In only a few minutes, as we were going to get something to eat, the rumbling began. In the very next second I fell and all the building fell around us. The lattice steel roof fell and three of us were safe but two of us were not. Sam and Clint had the weight of 5 stories of building on their feet.

For 55 hours we were agonizing in the pain of Clint and Sam. There were moments of hope and despair. Moments of laughter and moments of anger. We sang songs. We prayed. We had times of levity and times of brevity. At a point the pain became unbearable for Sam and Clint and they believed they would not make it and their thoughts turned to their families and they asked us to remember their families. They began to list all the names of those in their families but I did not pay much attention believing even in that 55th hour that we would all be found and they would be alright.

In the end we prayed, 'Lord, whether we are rescued or not, let us only trust in you.' I was reminded that there are times and there are circumstances that are beyond God. I know that I am alive, while Sam and Clint and 230,000 Haitians could not escape the natural order of the earthquake and lost their lives, is through grace only. Our loving God is present with us in all circumstances. Scripture teaches us that God cares for every creature, for all of creation. The rain falls on the just and the unjust; Jesus calls us equally to repent. We all need to repent because of Haiti.

(... here he gave the history of Haiti which I did not write out ...)

Our history as Americans is tied to Haiti, and our future can also be tied to Haiti with hope for the resurrection of that nation to be better than before the earthquake. 

My personal story is only important as it is the story of the condition of the people in Haiti. Tonight let us commit to take Haiti out of the rubble into a resurrected people.