Silent Warrior

              Meet Peter, he is a 27 year old Haitian I met on my mission trip to Haiti. Peter is smart, strong willed and proud of his country. He was our guide the 5 days I was in Haiti. He would interpret for us when we went out into the community or to orphanages to pray for people. He was patient and kind, one day I asked him where he was the day of the earthquake. As we sat in the back of a dusty truck bed he put his head down, I could tell he had to relive this terrible memory to tell his story accurately. After a few deep breathes he gathered his thoughts and raised his head back up, “I was at home that day”, he paused for a second, “I'm not sure but I woke up that day and felt the urge to skip school.”. He went on explaining “I never really skip school but I felt like something was wrong so I stayed home.”

             At this point his face lost emotion and he spoke with a soft voice “my classroom collapsed the day of the quake leaving all my classmates dead.” I didn't know how to respond, what do you say to that? He went on “one of my classmates got kicked out that day for cheating, a few minutes later the earthquake struck and she survived too”. I asked if this was the moment he began believing in God and he said something I will not forget “How could you not?” He knew that he had a purpose after that earthquake, that God wanted him alive. Later that day Peter explained how he barely has enough money to pay for his bills yet while we were at the tent city he gave away the new sweater I had just given him “Zach, I'm sorry I gave your sweater to a lady in one of the tents, she needed something to wrap up her baby.” I responded “Peter I would have been mad if you didn't give it to her”.

             Only a few hours later Peter snuck away from our group and went and bought ten children in the tent city meals so they could eat for the day. I could see the disgust on his face as we rode home that night. When we ate dinner Peter decided to take his meal away from the group and reflect on what we did that day. I knew that day affected Peter deeply but I didn't understand the implication until we were on our way to the airport the next day. As we passed a tent city someone asked him a question about the living conditions, that’s when Peter pointed out that he used to live in THAT tent city right after the earthquake.

              The truck cab turned silent, we now understood why he hurt so deeply the day before, he was one of those people just a short while ago. After the conversation I couldn't help but notice how Peter opened up his Bible and began reading quietly. Peter is a quiet person, he doesn't say much but he doesn't have to, his actions speak louder than words. Peters dream is to come to the United States and receive his masters degree, my prayer is that I get to see Peter again on U.S. soil one day. Peter taught me something about giving that day. He taught me that even when we have nothing, even when we are scrapping by we are taught that is when we need to give the most!