Christianville Clinic Journal

1/21/10

            Treating the wounded under the trees, in between the frequent after shocks of the earthquake, we cared for little 3 year-old, Rivaldy. His leg had been crushed by his destroyed home and now the leg, not only broken, was now covered in the blisters and swelling of infection. He cried as we cleaned, bandaged, splinted his broken leg, and gave him pain medicines and a shot of antibiotics. We consoled him and his father, Simeon, and told him he needed to bring Rivaldy every day to us under the trees so we could assess his leg, change the dressings, and give him more antibiotics.

            The next day and every day Simeon brought Rivaldy. We could see that the blisters and swelling were resolving. Saved from the clinic rubble, the Christianville x-ray machine was now working. Rivaldy had a minimally displaced fracture of the mid-tibia and fibula. We were able to successfully align and splint Rivaldy’s broken leg, thanks to our Bruderhof volunteer, Roy Durgin’s skills in splint making with wood, cardboard, and Duct-Tape.

            On the third day of Rivaldy’s care, Simeon, tall, handsome father with cap and dreadlocks, looked at me strangely. “Dr. Steve, mwé vlé palé avèk ou”, speaking in Creole, “I have something to share with you,” he said. “I have heard of Jesus. I don’t know who he is or really anything about him.” Simeon looked at me with a burning intense stare. “Though I don’t know Jesus or anything about him, I know, without a doubt, it was Jesus who saved our 18 day-old baby boy, and only Jesus. When the earthquake struck, our cement home collapsed. My wife was just stepping out of our home for a moment but our baby was inside the house. My wife was only injured slightly, but our whole home collapsed upon our newborn baby and buried him in the rubble. We were sure the baby would be found dead or severely injured at best. Instead, we found, miraculously, our little baby boy without even a scratch upon him!”

            Simeon went on, “I don’t know who Jesus is and I am afraid to give my whole self to him, as I have heard it is dangerous to believe only in Jesus. But I know it was Jesus who saved our baby. Can you help me to find Jesus?” “He loves you very much,” I said. “Would you like me to pray to Him with you?” I asked. “Yes, please do.” Through our tears, we prayed together, asking the Lord to strengthen our faith in Him, “We believe in you, Lord, help our faith to grow. Come to Simeon, now, into his heart, help us, Oh, Lord, our Lord. We want you to live in us and we want to live in you. Protect and help Simeon to live for you only. Help Simeon, Lord.” Simeon began his walk with Jesus that day. I shared Simeon’s new walk with the Lord with the faith community at Christianville. They promised to pray for Simeon and to help disciple him in his new life in Christ.

            The next day, Simeon and his wife came with Rivaldy and asked a favor. Would I name their baby boy, who they had not yet named? I reflected, and said, “Your little one reminds me of a baby boy in the Bible saved from death, named “Moses”. He became a great leader for God. What about Moses?” I asked. “We will name him, “Moses”, they said, smiling with joy-filled faces.

            Our Lord has a great plan for each one of us. He longs for us all to be his “Moses” in our own unique way, place, and time, for his kingdom of nonviolent love and justice on earth as it is in heaven.

            We thank God for each of you who have loved, prayed and cared for the suffering ones of Haiti and the world. I want to share these words as an inspiring encouragement to you, words that came to me as I struggle to stay on His path of servant love:

            “Humanity must turn around. What good are all its religious practices, what good are all its church services, what point is there in all its devout singing if God’s will is not done and hands remain steeped in blood? What does people’s faith mean if injustice is done to the poor as casually as one drinks a glass of water? What good is it to profess the divine if not even a little finger is lifted when countless children and poor people die?” (Eberhard Arnold, Words to Live By, 2008, Plough Publishing, Rifton, NY)

       In His Shepherding Love,

        Steve and Nancy James