Heaven's Burger Party...

Many encounters in Haiti left me humbled, but a particular episode, on our final day, could have been a definition of humility itself.

Julbert works at the children’s home, he has a paralyzed arm but, being a teenager, was ineligible to join the programme itself. Nevertheless, he comes each day before 7.30 and leaves after 5.00, making himself useful answering the gate, doing odd jobs. He’s not employed as such, and has never asked for money, but he is paid when it’s possible to do so.
On our final morning a meeting was taking place and it was conveyed to me that Julbert was not a Christian and that I should pray. I was uncomfortable, was this some sort of disciplinary issue, had a piece of information come to light which jeopardised Julbert’s ongoing work? I knew that wasn’t the policy, or the heart, of the home, but it seemed so formal. I was told though that on arriving that morning Julbert had announced that he wanted to make this new commitment for himself. With that, without a word, he stood up and knelt in front of me. Uncomfortable again, I knelt beside him and prayed.

Afterwards, we shared with Julbert the fact that all of heaven rejoices with every new believer and invited him to come with us that evening, as we were going out to eat, to mark our final night in Haiti. We went to one of the very few half decent restaurants in town, recognisable by the armed guards outside. Julbert, wide eyed and speechless, had clearly never been here before. The menu was full of such delicacies as cheeseburger and chips, a luxury at $2.50. This was Julbert’s option but he struggled with it. Whether overwhelmed by the occasion or just unused to such rich fare he picked at his chips and left the burger untouched. We called for a box so that he could take it home, it would serve as a good few days food in his house we were sure. As we left Julbert detached himself from the rest of the group. As we looked over our shoulders, eager to return to the safety of the vehicles, we saw him, speaking with a street-boy who was begging at the side of the road outside of the restaurant, quietly we spotted him handing over the burger box.

The generosity of grace is one of the first lessons of discipleship. Some of us start a long way behind.