Each day, Food For The Poor Board Member Dr. Lynne Nasrallah contemplates the “Stations of the Cross” – the 14 stations that guide believers through the steps taken by Jesus from his condemnation to his burial and resurrection. This past year, Nasrallah began to see the stations reflected in the people of Haiti she’s met and with whom she has walked during her many mission trips with the charity.
“At this very moment, there are hundreds of Haitians in Maché Mango praying that you and I will fulfill their dream of a home, a water well or a community center,” said Nasrallah.
Providing Homes, Clean Water
“As I walk along the way of the cross, I always relate it to my own life and somehow it came into my heart that Haiti this year is walking the way of the cross more than ever before,” said Nasrallah, affectionately known as Dr. Lynne at FFTP.
In the second Station of the Cross, Jesus accepts his cross. Poverty-stricken families, like Jesus must accept their cross. Nasrallah remembers comforting a distressed Haitian mother holding her baby boy with a severe skin disease. While the mother and son were in the hospital for a diagnosis, the charity’s donors built a new home for them. Nasrallah said the baby thanked her with a handshake for finding him both a miraculous cream to treat his skin disease and a new home.
“Lord, help us to carry each other’s burdens,” she prays.
Recalling People In Need In Cité Soleil, Haiti
In the sixth Station of the Cross, as Jesus passed by, Veronica broke through the crowd and wiped the face of Jesus with her veil. Nasrallah recalled zigzagging her way through a slum in Cité Soleil, Haiti, an area notorious for gangs and crime. Nasrallah said all she saw were children and parents hungry for food, water and dignity.
In her prayers, Nasrallah asks the Lord to help us not cast aside children and families in dire need as being too unimportant to save.
“I just didn’t want them to give up because the end of the way of the cross is always resurrection,” Nasrallah said. “But that can’t be without us ordinary people doing extraordinary things by giving a donation to help the way of the cross become the resurrection.”
Transforming Lives In Haiti
Nasrallah has seen many life-changing transformations in Haiti over the years, though it’s easy for that to get lost in the bigger picture of the nation’s overwhelming needs.
“We don’t see countrywide transformation. But when we go into a village where we have visited and you see one person go from their dungeon shacks into a Food For The Poor home, that’s when you see transformation and resurrection. One person at a time. One family at a time. One village at a time,” Nasrallah said.
“We can’t see the whole country in one bird’s-eye view,” she added. “But we can search and see what is happening with the heart and soul of one family who receives a Food For The Poor home.”
Celebration of Hope Gala
Nasrallah is turning her vision into hope for Haiti and is chair of Food For The Poor’s 23rd Annual Celebration of Hope Virtual Gala. The Celebration of Hope will be livestreamed on the charity’s website, Facebook and YouTube channels at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29. Award-winning singer BélO, hailed as Haiti’s musical ambassador to the world, will be the featured performer.
Register for the free virtual event and participate in the silent auction at www.FoodForThePoor.org/celebration. The silent auction opens at 6 p.m. ET Wednesday, Oct. 26, and closes on the night of the event at 10 p.m. ET Saturday, Oct. 29.