CULTURES

Being in Miami is not something being done to have fun for a semester, to "get away" or to learn to be on my own, however, it is a time for me to be immersed in another culture, learning about what makes it different from others and learn to appreciate how it works.  Miami, as most likely known, has a very large Haitian community, which I have really became a part of.  When I first found this out, I will admit, I was some what nervous.  You hear stories about how poor Haiti is how much crime may happen.  So should I be scared to be hear?  Should I be watching my back for crime at all times?  While many people would answer 'yes' to these answers, I am going to say no!  Not at all.  

Growing up in a predominantly white community and white state, I often hear stories about crime that happens there as well.  However, for some reason, we are not scared to continue living in our communities.  We hear stories and listen to people affected by someone such as BTK, the most notorious serial killer in history, living a short 50 or so miles from our hometown of Harper, but does that make us question our own culture and stay away from there.  Of course not.  We went on living life as if nothing was going on.  Some may have been more cautious, but what I am getting at is why do we question another culture when we hear about the crime they have, even though we have our own as well.  Did God not tell us to stop worrying about the speck of dust in our neighbors eye when we have a plank in our own eye?  Maybe God was not just meaning this on a personal basis, but on a cross-cultural one as well. 

Being safe in our own homes away from crime, the only connection to other cultures we receive is through the television in our living room, broadcasting live in front of the yellow crime scene tape.  Why do they never go to another culture, perhaps a black culture, and do a story on how all their children are also passing school and going on to college?  Why do news stations not show us the 'real' culture, showing how nice people really are?  Show us the "ripe apples" in the bushel instead of that one rotten one?  Being here for two months now, I am coming to realize that crime is something I have not experienced or been accustomed to in this new community, yet, I have graciously been welcomed.  People see me and respect me as the teacher who comes to help their children learn and grow to be better people.  

It really has been recognized as an experience that I would not have received had I not make the journey down to Miami to experience something like this first hand.  Had I taken the views of the news stations, or other people who have heard stories of what may go on in neighborhoods, such as the ghetto of Little Haiti, I would have gone to the grave with the complete wrong perception of these people.  I hope that my experience can be taken by others, and make them see a different side of what the world sees the 'ghetto' as.

Earlier, I asked the question why God puts someone like me in a place like Miami to do missions.  God is already present and doing great things here, so why do I need to come down to do his work?  People are not always placed in other communities or cultures to show God's love and save the nonbelievers of that group, yet, they are placed there to learn about other cultures, and what they truly are, then, return to their own group of people, spreading the news.  I feel that I have been brought to Little Haiti to learn from them and learn about them, bring it home, and teach others who have been given a false opinion or view of that community or culture.  Before coming to Miami, I was one that would often judge a man due to where they came from.  I would grab my wallet when walking by a person of different color.  With this experience, I am really pleased with what God has SHOWED ME instead of what I have showed others.  This experience has not been to better the people of Little Haiti, but to change me as an individual and God is doing just that each and every day!

To wrap things up, I ask that you could just remember one of my boys and his family in prayers.  I wish I could write why in detail, yet, it is not my place to do this on a public internet site, but just remember (we will call them the Smith's since there obviously are no 'Smith' Haitians) this family in prayer!