Saturday, November 24, 2012

Justice seekers, think holistically

It was finally the day that Johnny and I both had time to go and visit his aunt.  It was a great time with his family until we headed down the mountain...

As we reached the main road we turned left and it happened...

I looked up and saw a little girl (age 4) get hit by a motorcycle as she was crossing the street. Her body resembled a baby doll being thrown into the air.  The little girl got up and stumbled toward her mom and then the mob started to form.

In Haiti, everyone gets involved when something like this occurs. 

We did not have time to work through the details of what happened, we needed to get the girl medical care.  Johnny picked up the girl and holding her head to stop the bleeding he jumped on a moto and headed toward our home. The mom got on my motorcycle and we followed.

Once we got to the house, Christi did an amazing job caring for the little girl by searching for all the wounds and bandaging her head.  We had a doctor friend on call in case he needed to come to the house.  After about 15 minutes it appeared that all the wounds were superficial and she was going to be okay.  

Stepping away from the little girl, I asked Johnny where the moto driver was that hit her and he looked at me and said, "John he is standing right there." As I looked at him, he faced showed concern for the girl.

Knowing that village justice occurs even in when things happen accidentally, Johnny felt it was good for us to take the mom and the little girl back to their house and speak to the "gathering crowd."  

As we pulled up the "crowd" was much larger and was still arguing over the accident.  We pulled up and began to speak to large group telling them that the little girl was going to be okay and reassuring them that this was an accident.  

As soon as Johnny began to speak the crowd quietened down and begin to disperse back to their homes.

I share this story in hopes that we all remember when things happen to us or others unintentionally we are called to quickly forgive and make all things crooked, straight again.  

After all, are we not all ambassadors of reconciliation?

 

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