Un país en escombros: lloras por Haití
A Country in Ruins: Tears for Haiti

Today’s Ecuadorian periodico read, “121 milagros han sucedido en Haití (121 miracles have succeed in Haiti)” and yesterday’s headline was, “Ecuador mandó un avion para ayudar Haiti (Ecuador sent a plane to help Haiti).” For the past week and a half the front page has been dedicated to Haiti relief depicting the horrors, telling the stories of lost victims, and the miraculous survival stories; essentially, connecting the Ecuadorian nation in empathy with Haitianos who continue to suffer after another tremor of 6,1 en la escala de Richter reactivated a world of panic and further destruction.

I have tasted the salt of my tears for Haiti these past weeks; the images are soul shuddering to soak in and even more painstaking to try and fathom. Such tragedy is always hard to grasps and it is so easy to ask where was God?

I have no doubt whatsoever where God was. God was there. God was buried beneath tons of crushing steel and suffocating debris, holding hands, whispering blessings, and answering cries of pain. God was crawling and digging through the wreckage to reach God’s beloved children who were suffering. For some reason we think God is light-years away up in Heaven with the chubby cherubs; but God is here amongst us in the trenches with God´s children, if we are to utilize Paul´s imagery. We would be disillusioned to think that God’s heart isn’t completely shattered from such devastating anguish. God too gasps for air from weeping for God’s children in Haiti. When I try to figure out why this occurred and why it had to happen to such a poverty stricken, struggling nation like Haiti, the only answer I find is: plate tectonics. Molten magma burning and searing deep within the Earth’s fiery core caused the mantle to become malleable and shift which then surged a catastrophic quake and shivering tremor. I hate moments like these where I am reminded that we live in the age of a continuing cosmic struggle, but I am thankful all the same for the liberating victory we have in Christ Jesus.

I was blessed to see that Ecuadorian ink splashes with hope instead of embossing a sea of despair. It’s quite emotive to see the images of Anna Zizi, 70 years old, being pulled out of the ruins of the cathedral in the capital of Haiti and to know that una pequena de 23 dias was rescued alive from the rubble as well. To see the Ecuadorian nation reaching out and doing everything within its power to send aid to our Haitian brothers and sisters, who now move to the top of the list of the World’s failing states, is the international relations solidarity hoped and prayed for. We are united mano con mano y corazon con corazon.

I was also surprised to see what a powerful world vision Ecuadorian print captures. Never in this country would Pro Golfer, Tiger Wood’s, extra marital activities seize more consecutive NYT headlines than the September 11th tragedy. A single day on the front page of an Ecuadorian newspaper is dominated by concern for Haiti, worries for the efficacy of the Obama Administration’s second year and the upcoming 2010 elections, the number of vehicles manejando the streets of Quito and the resulting environmental degradation that ensues from such an intense concentration of polluted exhaust, global climate change which has resulted in a drying climate for Quito causing concern of adequate water supply, for the rivalry riots and subsequent deaths in Durango, Mexico, the rise of narcotrafficking and violence of the military ejercicio FARC in Colombia, the Human Rights Violations incongruent with the standards of the Geneva Convention that have occurred at Guantanamo Bay, the oppression of indigenous groups like the Shuar who are being massacred by petroleum companies in la selva amozonia and by mountain top removal mining companies in the Andes, the deaths that occurred in Bagdad from the car bomb explosion this past week, and the vulnerable international market. Less than a one and a half inch area is given to EE.UU. (U.S.) actor Jonny Depp who was elected among the top 25 men with the most style, the new Spiderman 4 director, and Lindsay Lohan’s big dancing debut with the Viena Opera.

You only have to read one page to realize what a beacon the United States is to other nations. I pray we can deliver. I pray we would capitalize on health care reform and make adequate health attention a fundamental human right; that the U.S. along with the European Union will give the UN teeth to stand against the outrageous human right violations occurring around the world; that we might renounce war in the Middle East and promote peace at any cost; that we would set a standard of excellent against carbon and greenhouse gas emissions and quit relying on dirty coal to fuel our fluctuating economy; that we would make humanitarian aid our greatest national expenditure and waste no more preparing for war; that we might wage combat against HIV/AIDS, yellow fever, malnutrition and malaria; that we might be a sanctuary for all immigrants remembering the words of Alexis de Tocqueville who wrote in 1831, ¨Once America opens her doors, she will never be able to close them again;¨ that we might release nations like Cuba from economic embargo and mandating restrictions because of conflicting ideologies; that we might abandon our exploitation of India’s textile industry; that American Industries would stop raping the rain forest for its material values as the shadow of the mounding flavelas loom over the desolation; that we would provide for the disease stricken, war-torn, environmental refugees of Africa; and that we would stop flirting with disaster with Hugo Chavez and our new found military bases in Ecuador and Colombia. It is my hope also that the U.S. will play a quintessential role in nursing Haiti back to health.

I am a firm believer in the fact that our actions, our words, and our thoughts in this world truly matter, they matter for an eternity. As other nations stand vigilant, may we learn to lead by following the path of our Sovereign God.