i’ve written about the haitian tent community of marassa many times here (most thoroughly here), because it impacted me so deeply. it’s one of those experiences i will remember, in fine detail, for the rest of my life. it looks like i’m going to return to haiti at the end of may, and my prayers are daily for the people of marassa, and what i will find when i return (their tent community was built on a broad, dry riverbed — but the month-long rainy season has hit since then).

but, as ian robertson, our brilliant team videorapher (seriously, if you need a videographer for some freelance work, this is your dude), recently sent along this longer video version of our experiences in marassa. and, while the memories and feelings were never very far away, the force of them came flooding back watching this (and seeing the faces of the people — people i met, people i want to see again).

i’m sure some of you are tiring of me posting about haiti. to modify a quote from bono, from one of the u2 dvds (can’t remember which one… rattle & hum?), “am i buggin’ ya? ’cause i mean ta bug ya.”

i have two last videos to post in the days to come. but if my tentatively planned return trip really happens in late may, you can count on hearing more from me on this subject — these people — that i don’t want us to forget. i spent 30 minutes on the phone last night with a senior pastor whose youth group are planning on going to haiti this summer with adventures in missions. he’s a local pastor, who just happened to know that i went with AIM, and that i would have opinions both on haiti and on AIM. he wanted his youth team to go, but was getting a bunch of resistence from adults in the church who thought it wasn’t safe, or wasn’t good stewardship (“they should just send the money”). my response was that, going with the right organization (like AIM), haiti is as safe or safer than a short term trip to any american urban center. add to that that god’s spirit is clearly moving in haiti; and, well, anywhere god’s spirit is moving is the best place to be, safe or not. as for stewardship, my experience was that haitians (and haitian church leaders) are not used to droves of short term missionaries coming to them, like so many mexican border towns. so the impact on going drives deep into needed encouragement. and hands are still needed, as well as hearts. i think it’s good stewardship to go.