Day 33: Fearless

He spoke with the power of Jesus himself. 

The memory is fuzzy in my mind,  so distant I have a hard time believing it to be true. 

I was 19 or 20. I had gotten an old retired bus donated from the local district.  I loaded it with donations and drove it to Miami. I arrived at the port and had it loaded on a ship to Haiti. 

I flew to Haiti and went with the pastor of the church I worked with to the Port to collect the bus from the ship. 

I was exhausted and sleeping in the back wedged between some sacks of pinto beans. The bus came to a stop and an armed man stood at the door.  Things seemed tense.

I stayed still half asleep, half highly alert.

The pastor's voice was calm.  

"This bus belongs to God.  I would not be responsible if you stole it from him. "

The men left. It felt like Obi-Wan using the force. 

We never spoke a word of the incident.  

I sometimes wonder if the memory is real. I never much shared it and as I've said,  he and I never talked about it. 

But it was ordinary for him. He experienced things like this.  His brother was murdered in a similar situation. 

Haiti can be dangerous. 

This small,  gentle pastor has a largeness and a power that reminded me of Jesus. His faith gave him an unwavering ability to choose the right thing,  even when the right thing was dangerous. He died march 20, 2005 of meningitis.  

There are times when faith asks us to risk something. Our reputation, our finances, our careers. When I face a moment of risk in faith, I remember his eyes. Serious and knowledgeable of the risks he faced and yet kind and soft with a conviction that would must certainly move mountains.  

Today I've been thinking about the church and I feel the church is called to risk.  To go out in faith with a trust that God will lead and God will provide -- people,  money,  opportunity.  And i imagine this Haitian pastor -- and I think-- I need a bit of his courage. Maybe we all do.