The poem below is from Emily Estes, who got connected to HTF through Sheridan Lutheran Church in Lincoln, Nebraska. Emily felt called to travel to Haiti and was especially struck with a common HTF phrase, “We need Haiti more than Haiti needs us.” Through her recent trip to Haiti, Emily came to understand
that there is beauty in everything and sometimes we have to go beyond what the eye can see.
Beauty. What’s Beauty?
It’s a journey through the mountains
Beauty. What’s beauty?
Won’t you come along and see?
It’s a journey through the mountains
The view of hillside farming
An abundance of green trees
The rivers and ocean
Goats and cattle grazing
A road that takes you higher and higher to a view that surpasses any that you’ve ever seen before.
That’s just the start.
It’s something that anyone can see.
Will you look a little closer with me?
There’s poverty
Destruction of buildings never touched
A starving people for food and work
There’s children
Are they losing hope?
That’s just the start
It’s something anyone can see
Will you look a little closer with me?
Beauty. What’s beauty?
It’s a greeting
A people coming through the woods
A smile
A hug
A handshake
It’s the beginning of relationship
That’s a step forward
Not everyone will try
Will you go a little further with me?
It’s a clinic
The smile you witness when someone sees words, faces and leaves for the first time in years
It’s the tears of joy you share with a stranger - a language you both know
It’s a feeling that you’ve never experienced and can’t explain
That’s a step forward
Not everyone will try
Will you go a little further with me?
It’s fellowship around the dinner table
The sharing of faith between nations
It’s the development of community in a culture not our own
It’s a prayer of thanksgiving
Beauty. What’s beauty?
You’re getting closer
Don’t you see?
Will you take just one more step with me?
It’s sharing heartache and struggle
It’s looking into the heart of every man, woman, and child you meet
It’s listening to stories
Sharing tears of joy and sorrow
You’re getting closer
Don’t you see?
Will you take just one more step with me?
It’s the destruction of man made boundaries
A union of cultures
Walking hand in hand
A hope for what seems hopeless
It’s seeing the love of God in the eyes of a people filled with hardship
It’s giving a piece of your heart away
It opens your eyes
Can you see it?
It fills you with joy
Can you feel it?
It’ll change you
Are you ready?
It’ll challenge you
Will you trust God or question Him
Beauty. That’s what I’ve found.
Even in the deepest layer of poverty
Every step forward God reveals Himself in a new way
I’m changed.
Through faith I’ve witnessed beauty among the land of Haiti.
