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A Few Words From Pastor Bryan
The photo you see to the left here was taken just a few days ago at a university graduation ceremony in Haiti. The photo is of my young friend Alex Riquel. I have known Alex since he was in elementary school. Just this last week, despite all the interruptions in Haiti because of political and gang violence in recent years, Alex got his college degree. I'm so proud of him and happy for him I just had to share this good news with you.
As most of you know, I have been working with grassroots organizations in Haiti for over 30 years, and I helped found the educational organization called SPARE (Sponsorship Program Aiding Relationships and Education). In Haiti, only 1% of the population ever receives any university level education at all, let alone achieving a degree. SPARE has now seen well over 30 students graduate from a University or technical school. This is the program through which our church (And Martha Olsen & Sheryl Rowe) is sponsoring our young female student Deusline.
In Haiti, SPARE is now run by one of the program's graduates--a remarkable young man named Wilson Pierre. Yesterday I received this message from Wilson along with Alex's photograph and the video you'll see at the bottom of the page. (at the end of the clip Alex is the tall guy without the glasses in the far side of the video). Wilson wrote;
Today we had the privilege of attending the graduation ceremony of our dear graduate Alexis Jean Riquel in electrical engineering at Haiti Tech, one of the best professional schools in the whole country. We congratulate Alexis for the efforts made during his difficult years despite the political and economic situation of the country. We wish him the best of all and success in whatever he comes across. In addition, we thank Haïti Alliés and their sponsors for their support for years.
When I watched the brief video taken at the graduation ceremony, I burst into tears and had the best cry (tears of joy and gratitude) I've had in a long long time. I really can't tell you what joy it brings me to see what has evolved in and through this fragile little program among some of the most materially impoverished people on the planet. It is a minor miracle that Alex was able to survive extreme malnutrition and violence, complete his education, and become the young man he is. To see these desperately poor and vulnerable kids escape possible starvation through the school's meal program, receive a solid education, have a chance to live a life of dignity and make a contribution to the world by developing their own God-given gifts and capacities--well it brings me so much joy I can't really explain it. The poet, priest, and activist Daniel Berrigan said it well in a brief poem of his called "When I Hear Bread Breaking."
When I Hear Bread Breaking
By Daniel Berrigan
“When I hear bread breaking,
I see something else;
it seems to me as though God
never meant us to do anything else.
So beautiful a sound;
the crust breaks up like manna
and falls all over everything and then we eat;
bread gets inside humans.
It turns into what the experts call “formal glory of God,”
but don’t let that worry you.
Sometime in your life,
hope that you might see one starved man,
the look on his face when the bread finally arrives.
Hope you might have baked it or bought it–or even kneaded it yourself.
For that look on his face,
for your hands meeting his across a piece of bread,
you might be willing to lose a lot or suffer a lot–or die a little, even.
To see the look on Alex's face as he graduated with a degree in electrical engineering is worth just about anything to me. What a gift it is to be human. To have opportunities to share and focus our time, resources, and energy on behalf of others (as well as ourselves), and to see God make beautiful things happen for others at least in part through our efforts. It just doesn't get any better than that. As Daniel Berrigan put it, "It seems to me as though God never meant us to do anything else."
Thanks for letting me share this joy with you, and thanks for being a congregation committed to serving others and doing our best to make this world more loving and just. God willing, in about 6 short years we'll see a video of Deusline throwing her cap into the air. What joy.
Pastor Bryan
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