Written Fall of 2012

After the Haiti earthquake of 2010, my son Jordan, a quiet 17 year old, found himself in a house in Passe bois d’orme with 10 other persons from his home church including our leader, Jim Frankenfield associated with Water for Life. Jim wanted to help the people most affected by the earthquake, so we all headed to Cote de Fer, a nearby recovering town. But Jim wasn’t prepared for the sensitive Jordan by his side when we came across an old man stuck on his porch with a broken leg and no way to get to the hospital. Jordan saw the old man just as we all did, but his heart went out to him, and he pleaded with Jim that we had to do something.

The next morning, Jim came to me with his concerns. He wanted me to know that he was sorry we couldn’t do more for the old man but more importantly, that we would be disappointing Jordan who was counting on us to help him. Then Jim and I discussed how Jordan kept coming to him repeatedly the previous day with pleas for the old man, saying “We got to help him.” Jim knew as we all knew that the old man needed help immediately and was in danger of dying if his leg was not treated. I told Jim that I would talk to Jordan. I was amazed how much Jim was concerned about my son in the midst of the earthquake damage and our uncertain trip home. He took a lot of time to explain the situation to me and above all, did not want to hurt Jordan in any way.

Well, we did make it home safely and a few days later when we were all together at Jim’s house, the first thing he wanted to tell Jordan and me was that the old man was still alive and had received help soon after we had seen him lying helplessly on his porch. We were all so glad, but Jim especially wanted Jordan to see for himself pictures of the old man on the internet and assure him that he was alive and well.

Jordan did seem to go through some culture shock after his experience in Haiti, but he recovered. In his freshman year in college, he came to me and said, “Mom, the only thing I can ever see myself doing is being a doctor.” I was shocked since I had thought molecular biology was a pretty good major. But I understood…it all went back to his wanting to help the old man in Haiti…

Thank you, Jim….