Port of the Prince, from Logos of St Standrews, March 24, 2003 Anno Domini

“Brightly beams our Fathers mercy from His lighthouse ever more,

 But to us He gives the keeping of the lights along the shore. 

Let the lower lights be burning! Send a gleam across the wave. 

For to us He gives the keeping of the lights along the shore.”

 

We have just returned from a great journey to the Port-au-Prince (Port of the Prince) in Haiti. You will be pleased to learn that the Fires of God are burning brightly in that land of smiling people and tropical fruits though the inhabitants are impoverished in material treasures.

Peering out the back window of my room at Coconut Villa, I could see the port harbor below the city. At night, the harbor limits were well marked by hundreds of lights. In olden days, sailing vessels bearing exotic cargo from far away lands, would search the watery horizon for the great Lighthouse which would inform them that the Port lay ahead; but as they drew nearer to the entrance to the harbor, torches were burning along the shoreline to guide the large vessels to safe docking in the harbor. The Lighthouse was crucial for their safe entry to Port, but the Lower Lights were also necessary to guide the ships past the many salients and islands to the point of docking. That Lighthouse may be compared to the dazzling Light of Christ, searching the surface of the Great Deep for lost souls, while the Lower Lights represent the people of God who serve to secure those souls once they have drawn near to God.

The people of Haiti are loving and kind. They are hospital and friendly in their daily dealings. We were impressed at their zeal for life. More importantly, they have a great hunger for the Word of God and their churches, built within the city gate and in the remote wilderness regions of the country, stand as concrete testimony to that hunger. Many widows and orphans hunger daily for bread, but 

earthly bread does not whet their hunger for the True Bread of Life which is Christ. They are untiring in the pursuit of spiritual nourishment, and they have come to depend upon the Rock of Ages for their every need.

We had the privilege to visit a number of our churches and people, both in Port-au-Prince and in the outlying regions, whose love for our Lord and his people was abundantly clear. They care for the orphans of the Land with tender mercies and their hands grow not weary in performing any good work. They are eager to serve the ‘Great Prince of the Port’ and eagerly welcome others to join in the joys of Communion with Him.

The island is dark in places where the Light has been dimmed by corruption and intense want, yet the Light-bearers of our Church persevere in spreading the Gospel message to all who will seek safe harbor. The Love which abides richly in the hearts of our brothers and sisters in Haiti is an unending spring of effulgent, heavenly joy for all who are privileged to witness it.

Our Church has undertaken the burden to help these gallant Christians of Haiti whose charity and devotion merits our own emulation. Please join with us in sharing the load these good people bear in providing for their precious orphans.

We will soon announce our strategy in  helping to provide for the needs of our churches there in feeding the orphans and in operating elementary schools for their basic education.  We can transform the ‘Port of the Prince’ into the ‘Port of the Prince of Peace and Love’ if we falter not.

In Christ,

Jerry L. Ogles

Bishop of the Anglican Orthodox Church