Dry Bones

Here's a little writing I did for the newsletter for CODEP, one of the mission agencies we stayed with while in Haiti. I worked with them from 2003-04. You can find out more about CODEP at www.haitifundinc.org.

Ezekiel 37:1-6

The hand of the LORD came upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them: there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, "Mortal, can these dry bones live?"

I answered, "O Lord God, you know."

Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you , and cover you with skin; and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the LORD.

Haitians love proverbs, and Pastor Durex is no exception. Walking with him through the CODEP demonstration plot back in 2003 as a mission volunteer intern, he looked at me and said in Creole, “Prepare to fall.” I thought to myself that either this esteemed community minister was going to push me down (not likely), or my stumbling Creole wasn’t up to the task of understanding what Durex was telling me (pretty likely). My confused look prompted Durex to repeat himself, and sure enough he said slowly and clearly, “prepare to fall.” Then, with that sly three-toothed smile of his, he gestured to the edge of the demonstration plot and said, “We are about to leave Eden.”

Emerging from this beautiful garden that CODEP strategically planted alongside one of the major mountain thoroughfares, my sage friend again gestured to the barren hills in front of us with their jutting rocks and moon-like austerity. He said, “Here, the mountains have only bones.” Turning around, looking back at the emerging growth of the demonstration plot, which dramatically did illustrate how CODEP’s agricultural techniques could revitalize the land, he said, “but there they are growing meat!”

It was a powerful moment for me, one that caused the promises of Genesis and the questions of Ezekiel to echo in my mind. “Can these dry bones live?” I asked myself again and again walking through the mountains that day. Now, seven years later, I can say with confidence, yes. Yes, sinews and flesh are forming all through the CODEP project. The bones of the mountains there are growing meat.

Through a grant from the Rehoboth Project and the generosity of New Hope Presbytery, I was able to return to Haiti this August, leading a group of six other ministers and friends from around the United States. We spent several nights at the serene CODEP Guest House. We were graciously hosted by John and Debbie Winings, Clement and Paul.

And we hiked. We hiked up into the mountains, down into the demonstration plot, in and around fishponds, over to tree nurseries, and out to see incentive houses constructed by the Building Goodness Foundation. I was amazed. Perhaps most striking for me was the demonstration plot. Eucalyptus trees, which had been impressive years ago, were now as big around as my waist. Ferns of multiple varieties blanketed the ever-returning topsoil. Coffee and mangoes and numerous fruiting plants flourished in the cool shade.

The plot was looking even more Edenic than in 2003. The land is being rehabilitated. This rehabilitation is affecting the lives of the good people who live in the area. Children I saw there no longer had the red-tinged hair of malnourishment. Most of them were now wearing shoes and seemed to have a little meet on their bones as well. I was encouraged.

But, there is still work to be done. Pastor Durex’s church and school house where I did most of my work in 2003-04 is no more. A victim of the terrible earthquake, all that is left is the concrete foundation. We worshipped with the community of saints who still gathers there each week to sing praises and issue laments to God. They persist on as they did years ago, but now under a make shift shelter of salvaged aluminum, propped up by roughly hewn Eucalyptus branches harvested from prior CODEP plantings.

There is indeed work to be done. Numerous houses in the area were completely destroyed, and many people are still going without. But, the resilience of the Haitian people continues, and they persevere with diligence and even humor.

Leaving the CODEP project I was left with the confident feeling that these dry bones can live again. I saw evidence that they were taking on flesh. But, like so many times before, I was also haunted by the questions of what my involvement as an individual should be, and what our involvement as a community of faith should be in helping those dry bones live.

- Clark Scalera