Four months have passed and in many ways I am still processing the eight days I spent in Haiti following the earthquake.  There are so many stories I still haven’t even begun to share and some I’m not sure if I ever will.  But one story of a man I met on the streets in Haiti is pretty incredible and continuing to develop even today.

I met Charlie Beall the day I discovered the tragedy at the orphanage of Notre Dame.   No, Charlie wasn’t there when I discovered the tragedy, but I met him that night as I sat at the Quisqueya Relief Center in shock and in prayer for what seemed a very heavy burden.  Charlie was working beside me at a table checking his email and contacting home to let them know what was needed. That’s when I overheard some about his day, and it was also rather amazing as he too had come into contact with needy orphans, as well those critically injured.  I quickly introduced myself to Charlie and we immediately hit it off. He is a CEO of a very successful corporation but a man so down to earth and oozing integrity, compassion and love.  I sensed immediately that Charlie was a no-nonsense, to-the-point kind of guy.  And in the midst of this chaos it was great to find another English speaking brother who was taking on leadership and getting things done that were truly saving the lives of countless people. I literally saw Charlie saving lives in Haiti, whether it was a boy who needed immediate transport due to a brain injury or an orphanage that was without food and shelter, Charlie made things happen.  He fed, sheltered, and saved lives. Charlie, in many ways, was a one man team, moving quickly via moto, enabling him to communicate and coordinate with unprecedented speed.  That speed, as well as Charlie’s incredible gift of leadership, helped save lives. He was able to find supplies and move them from the airport directly to the need with few questions asked.  In fact, I was learning on the fly from Charlie and I began taking some of his approaches and methods and found that they worked for me as well.

I saw in Charlie a moral courage and an intuition which I believe is rooted in His faith in Christ and, when combined with real leadership skills, Charlie’s capacity to lead is simply immeasurable.  Too much is often said about leadership from people who frankly are professional expert leaders who tour the country talking about the subject. While I could never see Charlie Beall as a touring speaker, he does have much to teach and much more credibility in my eyes than do the many books I’ve read on the subject.  He is an amazing man who has already done and is continuing to do some amazing things.  I knew immediately he was and is a guy I want to know,  follow and learn as much as I can from.  We worked together on many things while in Haiti, and we earned each others implicit trust as at one point I delivered a large sum of cash for an orphanage in critical need for Charlie.  I have kept in touch with him and his work since returning from Haiti as he and I have homes within 20 minutes of each other in north Atlanta.  Charlie has now founded Critical Path International, in large part as a response to what he experienced in Haiti.  I hope to see this organization flourish and I am certain it will, Charlie is leading it.  I am supporting it personally and with the resources and ministries that God has given me responsibility to lead. I will continue to stand beside and behind men, leaders, and organizations that not only have a good mission statement, but have good mission praxis.  Charlie Beall and Critical Path International are one such man and one such organization.

I have often questioned why God had me in Haiti those days following the disaster.  What is He doing with me as a result?  I am far from answering that question but one thought that keeps coming to mind is that God is preparing me and continuing to train me.  No doubt Haiti itself was monumental in my life.  It has forever changed me and I may never experience anything like it again. I’m 33 years old and I may leave this earth tonight, but if I indeed live on to ripeness, I sense God is preparing me and others who have experienced Haiti to play some role in the future crises that will continue to plague our world.  I believe that God is indeed training many across the earth to do extraordinary things under extraordinary circumstances.  Haiti, in many ways, has been Basic Training. Charlie Beall was one of my drill sergeants.

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