Pastor’s Corner
December 5, 2009

Walking With Christ in Haiti – Part 3

Our last day at Cap Haitien brought us to our proposed 2010 Lenten Starfish project- Nativity Village #6. Some 8,000 people live in Shada along the polluted canal that winds through Haiti’s 2nd largest city. As our group walked along the river the stench was overpowering. Amidst the garbage, smell and polluted water was a small primary school. Children attend school only if their parents can come up with the $10 dollar monthly tuition. Most schools in Haiti are private; all the school children wear uniforms. The garbage that collects along the rivers edge helps to form landfill that will hopefully keep the water from overflowing into their small shacks that we would never allow our animals to live in. To illustrate the destitution of the area we passed by a man who was roasting a pig which appeared to be about 100 pounds, over a small fire. We were told that it would probably take at least a day, probably two with the small wood fire for it to be fully cooked- with all the entrails. When one is starving everything is consumed- even the innards.

Our 6th Nativity Village project will relocate these river people to higher- and safer- ground several miles away. They will become part of our other already formed communities with new houses of their own. Change is difficult for any of us and some will undoubtedly resist leaving. The best chance to find any menial job is usually near a city. And these jobs vary from day to day and hour to hour. We saw one man pulling and two pushing a rig with some 50 bags of cement each weighing over 100 pounds. Their pay? About 30 to 40 cents US. Scenes like this as well as the man cooking his pig over a few pieces of wood seem primitive- almost caveman-like. We have so many reality shows on TV, that in my mind are anything but reality. The scenes we saw today are reality for hundreds of thousands.

In the afternoon we visited the Prolonge swamp. Through your sacrificial gifts we have provided new houses to more than 350 families in this area, but many still live in the swamp. It is an ongoing project. It was here that I encountered another scene which I will not soon forget. A woman with a large strainer in one hand and an even bigger basket in the other was in some three feet of muddy water trying to catch small crabs- no more than an inch- and fish about the same size. Her face spoke to us with strength, determination and faith. When we asked what she would do with them we were told she would use some for her meal and the others she would sell to neighbors. A woman wearing a dress kneeling in mud up to her waist trying to survive! This some 600 miles from Disneyworld! This was and is reality and it will probably never be part of any television series.

A ray of hope was realized that afternoon when we visited and blessed our 5th Nativity Village at Demier. Food for the Poor had arranged for a celebration lunch for 250 of the residents, along with new shoes and colorful berets for the girls and soccer balls for the boys. It was chaos however. Someone had “leaked” the news of the food to people in neighboring villages several miles away. More than 1,000 people descended upon the village . Since none of us were able to perform a “multiplication” miracle, many got nothing to eat. This is reality in Haiti- walking miles for the promise of rice and beans. I thought at that moment of all the food that we throw away simply because of an expiration label on a box or can. This IS reality!

At our last meal together back at the hotel (rice, beans, vegetables and goat) we poured our hearts out to one another at what we had seen these past days. We all had walked through the Beatitudes of the Gospel. We had truly lived in four days the words of St. Matthew in his Gospel Chapter 25.

FEED THE HUNGRY…..we had fed hundreds, many with the orange hair of malnutrition.
GIVE DRINK TO THE THIRSTY….we experienced young children begging for our half-empty bottles of water.
CLOTHED THE NAKED…..We saw many who walked with no shoes. Children walking with just a tee shirt on and some wearing nothing. We passed out nearly 1,000 pairs of shoes.
IN PRISON AND YOU VISITED ME…we walked through the Cap Haitien prison, gave shoes and food to the 563 inmates. Fr. Duken orchestrated the release of 4 of the young men. We washed their feet in imitation of Jesus at the Last Supper, gave them them new shoes and a little money, and walked them out the gate.
SICK AND YOU CAME TO ME….especially in the Little Children of Jesus handicapped home, we held and comforted the broken children.

And while ten of our parishioners walked literally in this poorest country of the Western Hemisphere, YOU through your prayers and sacrificial monetary offerings were walking right along with us. None of this would ever have become a reality were it not for your generous support – your checks and ziplock bags of coins. I am most grateful and know that I speak for the thousands who now, while still poor, are beginning to live in dignity. YOU made their dream- their prayer- a reality.

What more could you do? If these past three weeks bulletins of our journey spoke to you, you might pass them along to another, rather than toss them into the trash. Not only is this the “green” thing to do these days- you might even motivate someone else to become involved in helping the destitute. Look what started from a simple, quiet ,late night walk with my dog “Pete” some eleven years ago. God does work in mysterious and wonderful ways doesn’t He?

For more info – www.operation-starfish.org

Walking the Way of Christ in Haiti – Part II

From November 9 – 13, Nativity parishioners traveled to Haiti with Food For The Poor to feed the hungry, bring water to the thirsty, shelter the homeless, visit the sick and imprisoned, and follow the Gospel call to serve the poor. This is the second of a 3-part series, which I hope will give you a snapshot of our latest Operation Starfish mission trip.

On our first day in Haiti we visited the 102 handicapped orphans at the Little Children of Jesus Home, saw a basa fish project, fed hundreds of people in line for rice and beans, celebrated mass at Nativity Village I, and had dinner with Fr. Rick Frechette, a physician and Passionist missionary. We gained new insight into our blessings as we prepared for Thanksgiving Day in the U.S.

Our second day began with a very early flight in a very small plane. It took more time to navigate the 3 miles to the airport through crowded and broken streets than it did to fly across Haiti to Cap Haitien on the Atlantic coast. “Au Cap,” as the Haitians call it, is the 2nd largest city, with 1 ½ million people. Fr. Duken Augustin, who visited Nativity Parish this past April, greeted us warmly at the airport and took us to our small hotel for a little breakfast before we began a full day of ministry.

We had told our group that there would be a surprise event on this trip. The only preparation they needed to make was to bring hand towels with them. At our first stop the surprise was revealed. As the bus pulled up to a Haitian prison, Delane Bailey-Herd from Food For The Poor read the following:
“ The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.” (Isaiah 61:1) We then announced that we were going into the prison to release several inmates and start them on a new life. We also were going to visit all the cellblocks, feed all 563 prisoners and provide them with new shoes and toiletries. Those who were being released would receive a package of gifts to help them start anew. The most powerful moment came when we brought out the men, told them they were being freed and then washed their feet and put new shoes on them. We gave them toiletries and a little money that Judy, one of our parishioners, had provided for “whatever need God put in our path.” I asked one of the men what he was going to do first when he left the prison. He told me “I’m going to get a ‘tap-tap’ to my village and give my Mom a big hug and kiss.” I thought immediately of my own Mom. Then we walked with them to the gate and watched them leave their captivity behind and walk into freedom.

The prison visit was a journey into hell. Many of the people are there, without due process, for months before their cases are heard. One man stole a chicken to feed his family and he had been in jail 8 months without a hearing. The inmates are packed 15, 20, 30 to a cell that is no bigger than our typical living rooms. They sleep 2 to a bed in bunks 4 levels high. One toilet fully exposed serves the entire cell. Women have the same conditions. Jim McDaniel said his first thought was of the slave ships carrying captives from Africa. My own mind went to the movie, “Turkish Express,” that exposed the conditions of Turkish jails. Prison is not the issue; inhumane conditions are. The inmates are allowed outside the cell for 5 minutes a day for an outdoor shower or exercise. They receive 2 meals a day – a small container of flour and water in the morning, and a bowl of beans in the evening. There is a small opening in the cell door, about 12” x 12” for passing food. As we walked along the corridor, people struggled to get their arms out the opening, hoping for a touch from us. They wanted us to know they existed. They yearned for human touch. Most heart-wrenching were the young teens who stole food because they were hungry, or the pregnant women, or the ones who were jailed because they can’t pay their debts.

Linda Lenertz, Madeleine Arzt, Meredith Daukz, and Denise Firestone talked to several of the women about their children and their families. Jim speaks a little Kreyol, so he translated. The jailed women seemed excited to be able to share some of their family details with the American women. It was a bright moment. Rich Eustis, a former military prosecutor, was horrified at the lack of legal representation and the primitive justice system. He pitched in, however, and organized the distribution of 563 meals of rice, beans, chicken and “Peeps” for dessert. Then we all packed bags of toiletries and pairs of Crocs to distribute to each prisoner. We spent about 3 hours working in hot, difficult conditions, but we brought a ray of sunshine to each prisoner that day. I was so proud of Fred Artz, Terry Stupka, Maxine Gordon and everybody who worked until they were soaked with sweat and aching with pain in order to serve these poor prisoners. I said to myself we have now touched on every element in Matthew 25.

We took a brief break for our own lunch, then visited Nativity Tilapia Farm, where we did a test harvest. The farm has 5 large ponds, a fruit tree nursery, and raises chickens and ducks. This project and our housing villages, along with our fishing village co-ops, our agricultural projects, reforestation and fruit tree planting efforts, we at Nativity have brought a better life to hundreds of people in this part of Haiti.

All day, and again during our reflection meeting in the evening, the passage from Isaiah kept coming back to me. Ironically these were the same words I put on my ordination card 43 years ago. Never did I realize how prophetic those words would become. Never did I realize that a parish community would put these words into action the way you have with your pastor. There are no coincidences in life – only steps in God’s plan.

(Next week, Part 3 – “Through the Swamp to the Promised Land.”)

Walking the Way of Christ in Haiti – Part I

From November 9 – 13, Nativity parishioners traveled to Haiti with Food For The Poor to feed the hungry, bring water to the thirsty, shelter the homeless, visit the sick and imprisoned, and follow the Gospel call to serve the poor. This is the first of a 3-part series, which I hope will give you a snapshot of our latest Operation Starfish mission trip.

On Monday, November 9th, we flew to Ft. Lauderdale, where Fr. Terry Hazel, Pastor of St. Michael’s Parish in Canfield, Ohio, and 3 of his parishioners joined us. Fr. Terry has been doing Operation Starfish in his parish since he and I first traveled to Haiti together in 2000. St. Michael’s supports the Little Children of Jesus Orphanage in Santo, near Port-au-Prince – a home for over 100 mentally and physically handicapped children. Also joining us were Dr. Sara Amodio, former Nativity parishioner, now Principal of St. John the Evangelist Catholic School, near Denver, and Rich Eustis, an attorney from Boston.

Following briefings with Food For The Poor’s Ceo, Robin Mahfood, Executive Director Angel Aloma and a tour of their world headquarters in Coconut Creek, we had dinner together, reviewed our itinerary and retired early to rest up for 4 days of emotional and physical challenges.

Our first day in Haiti began with a trip to the Little Children of Jesus Home, through pot-holed streets packed with people, “tap-taps,” donkeys, street sellers, U.N. troops, noise, smells and dirt. This home is an oasis of love and cleanliness. Over 100 young people, ages 5-15, are living here under the loving care of Gladys and her Food For The Poor staff. Many have deformities, are blind, or have severe mental development problems. In the U.S. these children would have access to physical therapy technology, treatment and medications that are just not available in Haiti. But they do have tender, loving care from a dedicated staff. However, the staff is not enough to keep the flies out of their eyes and mouths, as hard as they try. There are no screens, no air-conditioning. The kids are under a roof, but the walls are open. How frustrating it must be to have insects in your face and not be able to swat them away because your arms don’t work.

I was very proud, however, at how our parishioners engaged the patients with smiles, back-rubs, and laughter. I think Cinde Mausolf and Teri Baker would have taken home the little babies who fell asleep in their arms. I remember holding one little girl they thought was about 12 months old. Her mother had an older child ripped out of her arms by the flooding last year. The child was swept away and drowned. The Mom lost her mind and this baby ended up at Little Children of Jesus.
We couldn’t speak the language of these children, but we spoke the language of God – the language of Love…

On this first day, we also visited a new site where Food For The Poor will be raising basa fish. The first 9,000 fingerlings are expected this month. We also helped out at a feeding center that provides a hot meal once a day to over 15,000 people. All this before lunch!

After lunch we visited with Fr. Jean Printemps at Nativity Village at Merger, our first “Nativity Village” project in Haiti. Here, some 250 houses, water wells, sanitation, a community center, 10-room school, vocational training program and chicken farm have brought hope to the entire community. We celebrated Mass with the school children. Fr. Printemps, Fr. Terry, our own Deacon Jose Pardo and I shared 2 stoles and 2 albs among us. We vested in our makeshift sacristy – the back door of Fr. Printemps’ car! You make do in a third-world country! Whenever I celebrate mass in Haiti, I try a few words in Haitian Kreyol. I stumbled through a message of loving our neighbors as we love ourselves (Mt 22:39), but the congregation seemed to get it – they enjoyed my trying anyway! Although the heat and humidity were hard to bear in the small concrete community center, the 100+ children who filled the room sang their hearts out for us while roosters crowed outside.

After mass, I handed out over 300 lollipops, bought with money a parishioner handed me after mass just before we left for Haiti. Hollis Hunter replaced the kids’ soccer ball (a plastic soda bottle) with a real one he brought from home. The children were very curious about us – some of them had never seen a white person before. They loved touching my gray hair – it must have felt so different from their own.

We always have a reflection meeting before dinner when we’re in Haiti. This first evening, we were joined by Fr. Rick Frechette. For the past 22 years Fr. Rick, a physician and Passionist priest, has worked to create more human conditions for the poor of Haiti. He built orphanages, hospice facilities, and the St. Luke Program, which puts graduates of orphanage facilities to work in the slums of Port-au-Prince. He founded and administers the St. Damien Pediatric Hospital, a $5 million, 45,000 sq. ft. facility with surgery, cancer treatment, radiology, emergency ward, critical care, isolation room, infectious disease ward and dental clinic. Fr. Rick and his staff treat more than 30,000 children and adults each year. He taught us a different side of Haiti – the ministry of the dying. He told us that the median age of Haitians is 17, because people die so young. He said that every night many people die in Cite Soleil, but there is no 911 to call, no mortuary to come retrieve the body. So you just sleep with the dead person until daylight, then you find a man with a wheelbarrow and pay him 10 Haitian dollars ($1.50 U.S.) to cart your loved one’s body off to the public morgue. Fr. Rick’s deep faith and his compelling stories had us riveted and we felt blessed to be able to pray with him and share a meal together.

By the end of this first day, I was mentally and physically exhausted. I felt as though we had all walked through the Beatitudes today, with our sleeves rolled up, our hearts open, and our tears flowing. I thought briefly about my upcoming Thanksgiving visit with my brother and sister in Rhode Island. I will celebrate with relatives and friends, just as you will. Our tables will be overflowing with turkey, vegetables and pies. I ask that you give thanks for the many blessings we share. Be grateful for the food that is available to us. Think about our Haitian brothers and sisters, 1 ½ hours away by plane, who walk for miles and line up for hours to get a container of rice and beans once a day to feed their families. Believe that they could make a feast on what we will throw away that day.

May this Thanksgiving Day speak to you about our plenty and their need. May it activate the love and compassion planted by Our Lord in your hearts and move you towards those less fortunate, across the street and around the world.

(Next week, Part 2 – “We Find Ourselves in Prison”)

NOVEMBER 15, 2008

Some of you might remember the movie “The Longest Day.” The day after the elections that title came to mind. Waiting out the returns and listening to follow up  election commentaries I finally got to bed at 1:30 AM, only to be up again at 4 AM, to get to National Airport for my 6 AM departure to the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The only way for us to reach our Nativity III project in this primitive village of El Corte, was via the Dominican Republic. Some 14 hours later we reached San Juan de la Maguana in the DR to spend the night. We celebrated Jim McDaniel’s and Delane Bailey’s birthday that night with a few pieces of chicken and a cake.

The following morning, with Food For The Poor officials and Engineer Arturo Castro, we drove to Banica, where we picked up Fr. Keith O’Hare, an Arlington Priest serving as missionary pastor at our Diocesan Mission. The trip took some two hours in an old and very small vehicle with three of us packed into the back seat. Intimate but uncomfortable to say the least. My claustrophobia which I thought was a thing of the past, flared up which necessitated our stopping along the highway and my switching seats. The final seven miles was via the worst road I have ever traversed in my life. Recent hurricanes resulted in thousands of ruts and pot holes some as wide and deep as two feet. Our vehicle would often straddle the pot holes!

We crossed over the border (the Rio Artibonito) on a cement bridge almost destroyed in the recent hurricane and being held up with dirt tossed in after the storm. It was in this area back in 1937 that thousands of Haitians were killed with machetes under the Dictatorship of the Dominican Republic and thrown into the river. The Haitians renamed it Massacre River.

As we came over the last hill to our Nativity Village we could see a bright splash of color. Blue, yellow, pink and green houses dotted the dry and barren landscape. What a contrast with the conditions of just two years ago. What Jim McDaniel and Food for the Poor found at that time was a primitive landscape with dwellings spread out over the hills and ravines. They saw deteriorated shacks, mud and stick huts with dirt floors, and people bathing and watering animals in the same stream that provided their only drinking water. At first, the quietness was rather pleasant. It was a contemplative scene. But on further thought, they realized that the people had nothing to distract them from their misery. There was no noise, no crowded streets, and no action, like we have seen in Haitian cities. The silence was oppressive, a reminder of their intense isolation.  Slowly, one at a time, the people began to approach. They were afraid of the visitors. Was there some innate memory of the events of 1937 that made them cautious of strangers?  Once they saw that the visitors had food, they began to materialize in greater numbers. But the looks on their faces remained wary, hesitant, hardened by survival. Jim and Delane passed out bread and supplies from the back of their truck, and then went off into the countryside with bags of food to distribute house to house. Many people remained afraid to come forward, but welcomed the food brought to their doors.

Today was such a contrast thanks to our people of Nativity. Before we blessed the 50 colorful new houses we were thanked by the community in their new green activity center. My Creole lacks much but I made an attempt. A poignant scene was mothers nursing their newborn babies. Two years ago infants were dying in this village because their mothers were so malnourished they had no milk. One of the most moving moments of this celebration was my being presented with two gifts:  a small bag of peas and a bunch of bananas. In their poverty these people were giving us food as their thank you.

Music was provided by five singers and a small band made up of three guitars, a battered key board, small drum and a dented cymbal with a piece torn out. What we would have relegated to the dump were their instruments of celebration and thanks to us. The microphone was powered by an old car battery.

On your behalf we gave each of the 50 families a supply of food- rice, beans, cooking oil, powdered milk, bread and a little chocolate. Everyone also got a new pair of bright red clogs- although many of the sizes didn’t match the size of their feet. I had a problem with giving out the live chickens. Picking up chickens by their feet and handing them to our new friends was a new experience for this guy who grew up in a tenement house in Providence! And knowing that these chickens would be dinner during the week didn’t help either. I’m used to picking up my chicken at Giant, Safeway or KFC.

Another moving moment was uncovering and blessing the new water pump. For the first time the villagers will be drinking cool, clear and above all clean water- again thanks to you.

While what we witnessed on this trip was an oasis of hope, these beautiful people still lack so much. While the houses are sturdy and safe no one has any furniture or even a mattress. Obviously no electricity. The nearest town with provisions is some six miles away- all traversed by foot. A doctor visits twice a year. And I can only imagine that if one needs medical attention how or where would they bring them?

I remarked to Fr. O’Hare that I think every one of our priests should make a retreat in a third world country. Their whole perspective would change. Here is where the Gospel comes alive. Here we meet Jesus face to face.  What I encountered on this trip to this primitive village and what I have witnessed in all of my journeys to this destitute country has given me a whole new scope of humanity.

Once again to you my parishioners of Nativity I offer my sincere thanks for what YOU have accomplished. I erroneously get so much of the credit while you are the ones who deserve the thanks. I only had an idea some ten years ago. YOU brought that idea to life for which I will be forever grateful. Because of what you have done these past ten years some 300 Catholic and Protestant churches throughout the country as well as at least two Universities have developed Starfish programs.  YOU are spreading the Gospel. You have every right to be proud. YOU have made a difference. God WILL bless our efforts.

Fr. Martin

Sept. 28, 2008

Two weeks ago I spoke to you on behalf of those who have no voice – the victims of 4 unwanted visitors to Haiti: Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike.  I described how our earlier gifts of houses and fishing boats were being used to shelter and rescue others. (The Arlington Catholic Herald ran a front page story last week on how our fishing boats were saving lives in Haiti.)  I asked you for help to get water, food and medicine to the survivors of these devastating storms.

My friends, I thought I knew you.  I believe you are compassionate, loving and generous disciples. But you took me by complete surprise.  You truly rocked my world!  In spite of all the negative economic news that tends to make us hold onto our wallets in these troubled times, you poured out your giving hearts to those in need.  Many of you literally emptied your pockets into the Starfish basket.  Your gifts toward hurricane relief in Haiti totaled $96,281.75

With Nativity’s generous gift, we have sent “tents, sleeping bags, hygiene kits, blankets, water, vitamin drinks, food including ‘read-to-eat’ meals, and much, much more,” says Angel Aloma, Food For The Poor’s Executive Director.

As you know, I am rarely at a loss for words, but at this moment, adequate words escape me. I don’t quite know how to express my appreciation and admiration of you, my Nativity family.  I recall the words of Jackson Carter, a simple fisherman who captains one of our boats in Nativity Fishing Village at Madras/Caracol. On the day we blessed the new boats this past June, he said in Kreyòl, “My tongue is not big enough to thank God for what Nativity and Food For The Poor have done; it would take all the tongues in our village to make a big enough thanks to God for you.”

Let me share with you the words of those who are working hard to bring our help to the needy:

From Fr. Duken Augustin at Nativity Village II in Prolongé:

“This country will not die. Life is a fight not just a gift. Whatever happens, just dont give up. Keep fighting.
The haitian people know something about that because their story is made of injustice, sufferings, humiliation but also courage, hope and determination. We have started over and planted 5 thousand fruit trees last friday. Again, thank you. God can make a way... We wont stop dreaming.
Fr Duken 

From Bernard Chauvet, Captain of the “John B:”

“Dear Jim, Let all your parishioners know that we really appreciate all the help their giving us. Let Fr. Martin know that he and his parishioners at Nativity are Hati’s best and true friends.”
Bernard

From Delane Bailey-Herd, Food For The Poor’s Haiti Project Manager:

“Nativity, you have taken out of your own storehouses to give to those in crisis, especially at a time when we in America are facing such troubled economic times. I believe as a result, this your most recent gift of love must fill our Father God with joy. You are an incredible example of Jesus on the earth. THANK YOU!”
Delane

From Angel Aloma, Executive Director, Food For The Poor:

“Nativity, you have responded. You have contributed willingly. You have recognized a universal brotherhood that includes those who are far away and whose voices are seldom heard. I thank God for each one of you that has taken up the gauntlet to ensure that there is hope in Haiti. There has to be. God would have it no other way. God bless you and I love you.
Angel

My dear friends, there you have it. We have created another miracle for the poor, and we continue to be blessed by it. As long as I am your pastor, I will continue to be a voice for those who have no voice. And I know I can count on you to come together so that all our tongues will speak for the poor and praise God.
Thank you Nativity!
Thank you Jesus!

Fr. Martin

Weekend of Sept. 13-14, 2008

This week’s Pastor’s Corner was supposed to be about my trip to the Dominican Republic and Haiti to dedicate “Nativity Village at La Linea.” Instead, tropical storms and hurricanes lashed out at Hispaniola and kept us home.

I have to admit that I was disappointed when the trip was cancelled at the last minute. But with roads washed out and more storms threatening this remote border region, we had no choice. I was looking forward to being present as 50 Haitian families received their new homes. I wanted to bring greetings and blessings from you - our Nativity parishioners.  I had also planned to bring a truckload of rice and beans, so the families at Nativity Village III could fill their shelves with food and be reminded of our continuing love and concern for them. And I wanted to bring you back the pictures, the hospitality, the love and the faith that I knew would be given to us in return. I was also planning to stop at Bánica, and visit our Diocesan mission parishes and the priests who are assigned there.

But it was not meant to be - at least not at this moment. The trip will be rescheduled and we will bring our presence and the presents of rice and beans to our Nativity Village brothers and sisters in the near future. Meanwhile, the people at La Linea have moved into their new houses, with sanitation and clean drinking water nearby.

Bringing rice and beans to our villagers has particular meaning to me. Every time I hear someone say “I’m starving!” I want to say “You don’t know what ‘starving’ really means.” I recall my colleague Jim McDaniel telling of a little boy he met in Port-au-Prince who had picked up a bucket of rice and beans at Food For The Poor’s feeding center. Other children were digging into their buckets, hungrily eating the food with their hands. Jim asked this boy why he wasn’t eating and he said “because today is not my day to eat.” Instead he was bringing the food home to the others in his family. How many of us have so little food that we take turns eating from one day to the next?

The people living in our “Nativity Village” developments have fared better than most Haitians during the recent violent weather. Our villages have drainage, sturdier cement houses and water wells. So while tens of thousands were left homeless recently, those in our 3 Nativity Village projects were better able to weather the storm. And with a 4th Nativity Village under construction, we can truly say we are saving lives as we continue our Operation Starfish efforts.

Lifesaving was dramatically illustrated in an Associated Press story during the height of the violent weather. In Gonaives, a coastal town where 2,000 lives were lost in a tropical storm in 2004, people were again being washed away by flood-swollen rivers. Into their midst sailed a sturdy fishing boat and a fearless captain. Bernard Chauvet and the “John B” worked tirelessly rescuing people from rooftops and plucking them out of the flood waters. The “John B” brought one pregnant woman to a United Nations outpost in the nick of time – she gave birth within hours to a healthy baby girl. According to AP, Food For The Poor was the first charity on site in Gonaives, bringing in water and food by helicopter.

Many of you will recall that the “John B” is one of the 10 boats in the 2 “Nativity Fishing Village” projects we have funded. And Capt. Chauvet is Food For The Poor’s fishing village coordinator in Haiti. One of my most poignant moments was when Bernard handed over the helm of the “John B” to me on the inaugural voyage to open our Nativity Fishing Village at Petit Anse 2 years ago. This 22’ boat, used to train all the fishermen in Food For The Poor’s 17 fishing villages, is named for my Dad. And “Bernard” Chauvet is a kindred soul because of his compassion and commitment to serving the poor, as well as the fact that the name “Bernard” is found throughout my family. How ironic is it that the boats we built to bring fish to the people are now fishing people out of the clutches of death?

In another act of kindness, Bishop Yves-Marie Pean of Gonaives has opened the Cathedral and his own residence to the homeless. More than 500 people are camping out in his church and home. Bishop Pean said “We have shared with them what we had, but now we don't have food or drinking water. What is left is for the babies. We are praying together in solidarity in this very difficult moment.” Many of you have met Bishops, priests and religious during our pilgrimage trips to Haiti. So I’m sure you’re not surprised at Bishop Pean’s actions. One of the gifts we receive through our work in Haiti, is the opportunity to meet and be inspired by these clergy and religious who have nothing, yet give everything. What an example of Christ’s love they present to us!

So, during the remainder of Hurricane Season, please keep the people of Haiti in your prayers.  Their faith is resolute; their complaining minimal; somehow their smiles remain constant; they have not lost hope. I contrast this with how often we complain, and sometimes about such inconsequential matters. As I always encourage you, please act on your prayers. As I write, the death toll in Haiti is 800 and rising. Roads and bridges are washed out and people are struggling to get water, food and medical help. We can help – I’m bringing the Starfish basket out this weekend to help you connect with those who desperately need us right now.

While this Pastor’s Corner was to have been a description of my journey to bless and dedicate another Nativity Village, instead it has become a story of how you, our parishioners continue to save lives in Haiti by building houses and boats. After 10 years, the work that we continue to do through Operation Starfish is truly a ministry of love and life. And I know you will continue this ministry in this time of great need.

Fr. Martin

March 5, 2006

Dear Friends,

A monk who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day, he met a traveler who was hungry, and the monk opened his bag to share his food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone in the monk’s bag, admired it and asked the monk to give it to him. The monk did so without any hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the jewel was worth enough to give him security for the rest of his life. But a few days later he came back searching for the monk. When he found him, he returned the stone and said, “I have been thinking. I know how valuable this stone is but I give it back to you in the hope that you can give me something more precious. If you can, give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone.

That simple story reminds me of my Dad and his continual generosity, a generosity that he has passed on to Madeleine, Jack and me. A story that my Dad tells, that I can never hear enough times, is when he was collecting money for the annual Catholic Charities Fund Appeal in our home parish of St. Mary’s in Providence, RI. Back then there were no mailings. The parish was divided into different sections, each assigned to a different parishioner volunteer. As the story goes, Dad went to the second floor of a tenement house and knocked on the door to receive the donation. When the door opened he saw an elderly woman who was caring for her husband, who Dad could see in the next room. She had very little, materially speaking. She scurried to a small container in the kitchen for the money that she had set aside. She intended to give two dollars but all she could find was one dollar. “Wait a minute,” the woman said, “I know I have the other dollar around here someplace,” as she quickly went to the other room to try to find it. My Dad saw the poor conditions that the woman was living in and he quickly took two dollars from his own billfold and put the money on a shelf in the kitchen. That woman was giving of her want. Dad responded by hiding his two dollars in her kitchen, which she would unexpectedly find some time later. What is more meaningful is that it happened 50 years ago, but we just heard the story a couple of years ago. Dad is a wise man who taught us the importance of generosity and looking out for the other person. Many times he has told Jack, Madeleine and me, “Whatever you give out comes back double.” A few weeks back, my brother told me that Dad said, “I feel badly that I can’t still provide for the family,” to which Jack responded, “You’ve been providing for 69 years now!” Mom and Dad, both 92, have slowed down, both use walkers, but they are still teaching us.

I share the two stories above, as we begin our annual Lenten Operation Starfish^®. In the past 8 years, our parish has built 27 houses in Canape Vert, Haiti; we helped rebuild an orphanage in Port-au-Prince; we funded a mobile medical van that went throughout the countryside of Haiti caring for the sick and giving children needed inoculations; we built 500 cement houses in Nativity Village and are in the process of building a two-story school that should be completed within a few months. Your Lenten sacrifices, placed in a simple wicker basket located at the entrance to the church, has generated slightly over 1 million dollars for Food For The Poor. Over these years, we have had several pilgrimages, averaging about 15 persons in each one, so that parishioners could see first hand the poverty in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

This year our Lenten Starfish Project will continue to assist those at Nativity Village, as we begin another venture to be named after our parish - Nativity Village at Petit Anse, near Cap Haitien, about 100 miles north of the Capital, Port-au-Prince. In addition to building houses, we have been asked to begin a fish farming project. This will enable people to raise tilapia, for selling purposes and to feed their families. We will also set up a fishing co-op program, which will provide boats to venture into deeper waters. Most importantly, we will be installing wells for sanitation in the school and for clean drinking water. What we take for granted, clean drinking water, is in many areas just a dream.

Next week, I hope to explain further the concept of Starfish for those who are new parishioners. Basically, it is about one person making a difference. You, our Nativity community, have made a difference in the lives of hundreds of people, young and old. You have helped 500 families live in dignity in houses that were at best a dream in their lives. You have helped children avoid serious disease through inoculations given from the medical van you provided and you have rebuilt the Little Children of Jesus Orphanage, destroyed by fire.

Thank you for making a difference. Please reflect on the story of the monk above. Reflect on the story about my Dad. Whatever you give out comes back double. Our parish has truly been blessed through Operation Starfish^® and hopefully you have as well.

Fr. Martin

During the week of August 25th, 2003, a group of parishioners from Nativity Church in Burke, Virginia are traveling to Haiti. This is the 4th pilgrimage sponsored by Nativity Church. Parishioners will experience first hand the problems of the poor and the efforts to address those problems.

In the Nativity Church Bulletin, for the weekend of August 23-24, 2003, Fr. Richard Martin wrote about Nativity's upcoming pilgrimage to Haiti in his "Pastor's Corner."