Last April, I went to Haiti with a medical team from West Hills Friends to provide free medical care in a clinic, and I’d like to tell you about one of the amazing spiritual experiences I had while working with “strangers” there.
I worked in the pharmacy, and one day the Creole translator called a 4-year-old boy to the window to take his liquid worm medicine. The boy’s mother brought him forward, and his big brown eyes lighted up as he looked at me. He smiled broadly and swallowed the medication with gusto. Knowing that the medication probably had a bad taste, I smiled back thinking that this little boy will really go places in life with such a positive attitude already.
I happened to look out the pharmacy window at the sea of Haitian faces looking at me, and I suddenly saw Christ looking back at me through this little boy and all those smiling faces. At that moment, I strongly felt God’s presence connecting us all.
Words from a prayer book by Hope Lyda speak to me of this experience: “To be able to see You, Lord, is a blessing. While faith can be defined as belief in something unseen, my faith in You goes beyond that. I do see You. In the beauty of the earth, in the smile of a child, and in each victory of justice, I see Your face.”
— Margie Simmons