Starting in the spring, the rains arrive annually inHaiti. About 200,000 currently live in flood or mudslide-prone areas of Haiti and 40,000 dwellings are needed just for those people. There are a variety of groups addressing this problem: The Commission of Damage Assessment, Temporary Shelter, Demolition and Reconstruction, various NGO's like Habitat for Humanity, etc. It is a monumental task and the need is urgent. Aleksandres Radosavcec and Erik Norremark are two Danes from the Danish People's Aid who are in Haiti working on the problem. They flew out two weeks after the earthquake and set up shop. Long-time disaster-relief people, they assessed the situation and presented a temporary housing design to the Shelter Cluster - a conglomerate of aid agencies in Haiti coordinating the effort. You can only imagine the chaos and the bureaucracy. Yet the Shelter Cluster chose the Danes' 14 square meter design as the first temporary shelter prototype. As Mr. Norremark says, "I'm from Legoland? This is a Lego-type assembly kit."  (Christian Science Monitor, March 22, 2010. p. 9.) The materials are precut and shipped in and in only two days parts can be assembled by trained mobile construction teams; they are elevated dwellings that are hurricane and earthquake proof for at least 3 years. Things are so chaotic and frantic in Haiti that mistakes have been made and ultimate costs for each dwelling are unknown; and yet they continue to build these temporary shelters as fast as they can.  As Mr. Radosavcec says, "We've got no fancy vehicles or big offices, just two guys hoping to train as many teams as possible to build homes."  (Ibid)

It often comes down to just that - a couple of people with a plan and a vision. No fancy offices, no high-paid assistants, just the determination of a couple of people to make something happen. We will all hear about the celebrities who travel to Haiti and have their pictures taken. I heard Susan Sarandon on a show this week talking about how she and Julia Roberts were roommates recently on a trip to Haiti and how they had long 12 hour days and didn't even have a mirror in their room to see how they looked. I also read that John Travolta flew down supplies in his private plane in February. Don't get me wrong - every effort to bring aid to Haiti or any other place in the world is to be celebrated and applauded; I just don't want us to miss the endless hours and offerings of unknown people with unpronounceable names (!), who we will never remember, who do acts of justice and mercy every single day. So again, Aleksandre Radosavcec and Erik Norremark, thank you for your design, your clarity and your mission to bring Lego-type dwellings to Haiti!!!

I think about this when I read stories in the Bible, such as the one we read today about Tabitha. The book of Acts chronicles the stories of the life and struggles of the early church, colored by Luke's interests and theology. It was written by the same author as the Gospel of Luke and is to be seen as an extension of that Gospel's message. It was written about 90 of the Common Era so the early church had been in existence for some years now.  It contains history but is not strictly an historical record of that time. The book of Acts tells us about the spread of Christianity under the influence of the Holy Spirit from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth (at that time that was considered to be Rome!).

The two major superstars in Acts are Paul and Peter and their pivotal events are Paul's personal conversion on the road to Damascus and Peter's conversion of the first Gentile Cornelius. The larger context of these stories is that the Roman Empire controls the region and the writer of Luke wants Christianity to win the favor of this powerful empire. Women's roles were limited in this Gospel since women were considered second class citizens by Rome. And yet here and there Luke finds the opportunity to hold up and mention women in his Gospel.

One of these women is Tabitha - mentioned only in a few lines of scripture. Her name is not well-known since the Greek rendering of her name, "Dorcas," is used by many and you may have heard of "Dorcas societies" that sprang up over time to continue the work that she did. So, with just a few lines in scripture, what is the story and significance of this one woman? Well, scholars say that she was mostly likely a widow herself. No husband is mentioned. She was probably a woman of means - Luke's Gospel names his affluent women; the poorer ones usually have no name. Her story is part of a larger story of Peter healing people and increasing the believers in the region, so it is also about Peter's interaction with Tabitha. And yet, along the way we learn some things about the life and people of this time. We learn that Tabitha has spent her life and fortune on tunics and garments for the least of these in her town.  The story details her death and resuscitation but you will notice that this is not the focus of the story.  This is about Peter being summoned to heal an important woman. She was beloved enough to send two men to Peter to bring him to her. Sure enough, the miraculous healing takes place, people believe, and now the name of Tabitha or Dorcas is recorded in the books of history.  One more footnote: it says that Peter stayed in Joppa for many days at the house of Simon the tanner. Again, just a tiny note, yet it has great significance. Tanners were people who cleaned and treated animal skins. The process was dirty and smelly and the occupation was not highly regarded. In fact, tanners had to treat animals that were considered both clean and unclean and as a result the process was considered repugnant to the townspeople; that is why tanners were consigned to live outside of town.  So once again, as in the tradition of Jesus, Peter hangs out with and stays with those who are considered outcasts and repugnant to the mainstream of society.

So, let us not miss the details in this story: the big picture is the movement of the Holy Spirit in and beyond Jerusalem with Peter and Paul the main characters. The details are who they associate with and the witness of people like Tabitha who has built a solid reputation of caring for those around her who are in need. The few lines in scripture make it look effortless but imagine her daily life - buying and sewing cloth to offer to women who have lost everything. Widows were the lowest rung in that society - women with no economic means who had no man to protect them or give them any status. Tabitha surrounded herself with women who were trying to survive. Imagine the stories she heard on a daily basis.

History will record the charitable and generous acts of Susan and Julia, Brad and Anjolina, Bill and Melinda, Warren and others - and thanks be to God for their abundant generosity! Today we also remember the obscure characters: Simon the Tanner, Cornelius, and Tabitha; also Aleksandres Radosavcec and Erik Norremark, Grace and Lu - who consistently and tirelessly make it look effortless. Thanks be to God for their persistent faith and their abundant energy.  Amen.