prayers for travel mercies and ministry

Well, we sent Sr. Kethia, our youngest Haitian Sister, off to Port-au-Prince this morning.  The two of us got up pre-dawn and zipped over to Logan Airport through the lights that were still on night-blinking status rather than regular red-yellow-green.  Part of me wanted a few red lights between us and Logan; the other part of me wanted to offload a few items so I could crawl into her suitcase and go as well.  No, she wasn't scared, she told me, just excited.  She has a lot of energy, and I'm sure the wait up here has been very difficult for her. If my own inner first reaction was to want to find a plane to get down there immediately, what must hers have been?  I'm sure she's tougher than I am, too, which will help in the days ahead.  Even after a summer in Haiti, I'm still all too fond of hot showers and hot coffee in the morning.  Not to mention easily accessible potable water...

And yet, for all that, for all I know how hard it will be once I finally get there, and for all I do think I need more training before I go, I'm still feeling antsy to get there.  It will probably be well over a year at this point: once I graduate, I still need training in my first year of ordination.  And as Sr. Kethia pointed out to me, right now they are still in subsistence mode.  She kindly didn't say what she could have about how useful she can be in ways I cannot, but pointed out that there will be more opportunities later on.

I know this. We all know this.  

Well - some don't. 

But as Bishop Duracin pointed out, right now the need is for those with specialized skills.  Mine are not the ones they need just yet.  The time will come.  ("The time will come," the walrus said, "to talk of many things: of shoes and ships and Sisters' packs, relief supplies and rains."  OK, so maybe Louis Carroll was better at the rhyming thing...)

So we arrived at Logan in good time, all too short a journey, and more so for the conversation on the way.  Following much running around looking for change for the luggage cart, as the machine didn't take fives after all, we had a quick goodbye hug, and off she went...and then returned, laughing, with her down coat, before I'd even gotten into the car.  No, I don't suppose she'll be needing that in Port-au-Prince.

I suppose I've written all of the above simply as a means of saying that my heart has climbed into one of Sr. Kethia's bags and is on an American Airlines flight to Miami and on to Port-au-Prince.  It's in the bag with the flashlight, batteries, and journal I gave her - and the purple Peeps.  It's not a Purple Heart for her, but it's as close as she'll get for now.  May God bless her with safe travel and a good welcome when she gets there, and may God bless all the Sisters, Pere Samuel, and so many others as they work to rebuild their home.

Purple Peeps for Sr. Kethia