Haitian Proverb March 23rd

“Di m’ ki sa ou renmen, m’a di ou ki moun ou ye.”

Translation: “Tell me what you love, and I’ll tell you who you are. Meaning, your priorities shape your character.”

A couple weeks ago we had an awesome group of people from Canada come share their time, energy, and talents with us up at the center. They built some benches for the kids which are now used every day for sitting and doing homework, eating at the table during lunch, or just hanging out and talking. They made a wonderful shelf for our kitchen which the ladies wasted no time putting to good use, filling it with bowls and cans of dried beans and sprigs of various spices. The most labor intensive project this group completed was cementing one of the outer walls of the center. While the cinder block wall was most certainly sturdy, the cement between them had some spots where it wasn’t as thick as it could be thus letting moisture inside. Two men and three teenage boys hauled buckets of sand from where it was dumped by the road down the slope to the side of the center where the cement was being mixed and “flashed” onto the building. The same was done with bucket after bucket of water. Because some plumbing work was being done by a Haitian team at the same time that also involved cement mixing, our water supply quickly diminished, faster than I had anticipated. And of course it ran out the day I was away from the center. Someone called, explaining the situation and said a water truck had already been called. The group donated some of the money needed to purchase the 3000 gallons of water for which I was extremely grateful. Work resumed.

The last day of this group’s stay, as we said our goodbyes, I offered to repay the team for the money they spent on the water truck, assuming it wasn’t in their budget to do so. They refused and said it was their pleasure to help. Then it was revealed that of the money donated, most of it came from one of the 14 year old boys in the group. He dismissed his kind act, saying he didn’t have anything to do with that money anyways.

When I came upon this proverb, this young man came to mind immediately. With one seemingly small act, one that he almost got away with anonymously, he told me exactly who he is. Not a lover of money or possessions or things that rust, break, get eaten by moths…he showed me and those with him that he loves God and all His children. He used his own money to help complete a project for strangers and he did so without hesitation. I feel very honored to have met this young man. I pray God will be able to use his heart in so many more wonderful ways in the future. And I pray I will meet more people like him throughout my life.