A letter from Cindy Corell in Haiti
Advent 2013
A mango stand in Haiti and Christmas
“So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them” (Luke 2:16-18).
The shepherds had gotten word of this great gift to the world, and they rushed off to see for themselves.
We know the story by heart, most of us. This passage — and the Easter story — are at the heart of our Christian faith.
On many a December evening, we have visited live Nativity scenes, standing outside our churches shivering with chill and with wonder. There is a roughly constructed shed with a quiet couple and a tiny baby. We recognize the church elders dressed as shepherds, perhaps we see a Sunday school classmate dressed as one of the wise men. Maybe the sheep a local farmer brought to add authenticity to the Nativity begins bleating at just the wrong time.
And the kids playing the parts of angels? They always delight.
Yet none of that distracts us from the sense of holiness.
Grace comes. Again.
Since I moved to live, work and worship in Haiti, I've found many joys. Chief among them has been the opportunity to photograph some of what I see here. It is how I tell stories. I took this photo of a mango stand one afternoon in August on my way back “home” to Cherident. That's the name of the rural mountain village where I lived for one month shortly after arriving in Haiti in the spring. On the way to Cherident from Port-au-Prince where I live, we pass this humble stand where a family sells their produce.
The stand is made of sticks and old tarps. It's perched — quite precariously — on a sharp turn on the narrow mountain road.
On the day this photograph was taken, the children were eagerly encouraging us to stop and buy. The boys were having fun, it seemed. The girl, maybe not so much. And the woman holding the child probably is tired from having carried the goods to market and will soon be carrying the unsold back home.
The little hut is the picture of humble. To me, though, each time the car I'm in comes around that curve, the little hut looks like sustenance. I can taste the sweetness of the mangos, and yes, sometimes we've stopped to buy some. There is usually a small crowd there.
My friend John Craft saw this picture on a social media site, and he said it reminded him of the Nativity, so I took a closer look. In this Christmas season, isn't there something in each of us like those two boys jumping up and down and encouraging us to stop?
To look.
The sense the sweetness of God's bounty.
To share in fellowship with others.
And, oh yes, maybe to buy some mangos.
And as I'm reminded of the Nativity, I try to go back into that simple Christmas story to imagine the emotions and motivations those shepherds might have experienced. They had just been out at their simple but important work when out of the darkness, the angel of the Lord appeared to them. They weren't expecting anything amazing. Then they went as they'd been asked to do, and witnessed the most amazing adventure. “The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told” (Luke 2:20).
I have met a lot of these shepherds since I've been in Haiti. In everyday conversation, I hear praise for our Lord.
“M pa pi mal, gras a Dye.”
“I am doing OK, by the grace of God.”
“Map we ou demen, si Dye vle.”
“I will see you tomorrow, if God wants.”
The people I meet in Haiti often greet me, not unlike these children in the photo, not unlike how I imagine the shepherds at Bethlehem would greet me. As if they know some great news. As if they have something amazing to share with me — and they do.
There is a reticence at first. Stranger meeting stranger. Then I smile — sometimes I feel I want my face to express what we used to write as our first love notes in elementary school. “I like you. I hope you like me.” And, then, wonder of wonders, 95 percent of time, I get a smile in return. Not just a slight grin, but a wide open, full countenance beam. Enough to light up a face.
My heart flips just a little. Every time. To meet someone in Haiti is to feel the warmth of the Caribbean sun, to know the love of our Lord and Savior. Time and time again. The warm smiles are followed by warm hugs and cheek-kisses and welcome into their homes, however grand, however humble.
We all know why foreigners first come to Haiti. The people here have been beaten down by a cruel history, slavery, political corruption, extreme poverty and all the closed doors that come with such a history. They need us, we think. And why do we come again? We need them, too, we learn. Because like those little boys at the mango stand, like those kind shepherds at Bethlehem, the people here come rushing to embrace us and tell us they are glad we are here, and boy, do they have a story to tell us!
It's the story of how God our Father came to Earth in human form, sending “his only begotten Son so that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). And the Haitian people know this story from one side to the other because they not only believe in Jesus Christ, they depend on him in a way few of us would understand. The people of Haiti inspire me with irrepressible faith and joy. They are the shepherds come again. They tell me the wonderful story of Christmas every day of the year.
Aren't we all shepherds, in fact? Isn't that our work as well, to follow the Angel of the Lord, to experience the wonder and beauty and truth that God sent his only son to save us all? And then go up and down the wide roads and narrow paths exclaiming to everyone we see: Come see! Come be with us! Taste the mango while you're at it, but mostly, just be with us while we glorify and praise our God together!
Merry Christmas, friends. Thank you for all the love, support, friendship and prayer you have sent while we are on this journey together. If you are just joining, I invite you to be with us all. Let us be shepherds together, proclaiming this grand news we've found, sharing the grace and mercy we have so wonderfully been given.
Cindy
2013 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, Haiti, p. 25
Read more about Cindy Corell's ministry
Blog: A Journey Across Haiti http://thelongwayhomeblog.org/
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