2012 Haiti Team Interview One: Tim

Of the members on our team, no one brought more character and more humor than Tim Bell. Equally important, few brought more experience. Tim, in fact, had traveled to several countries before Haiti, living for a time in Japan while in the U.S. Navy, and acting as a calming presence on our team. His experience traveling and simply living life allowed the rest of us to find reassurance from his presence. Tim was, in fact, somewhat of a father figure to us.

He could also tell a good story. He spoke once of his quarters on a ship, directly under the landing area of incoming jets. Although he got used to the sound of the landing jets enough to sleep at night, he told us of waking up with debris on his face from his shaken roof.

This "entertainer," however, has a more serious side to him. As Tim told small group members and coworkers alike about his decision to travel with us to Haiti, he recalls his wife and small group being very supportive. His coworkers, however, were less so. They mocked him, calling him foolish for taking vacation time for a trip like this, and even made derogatory jokes about Haiti.

It was through the lens of Tim's job, in fact, that I saw his challenges and character more clearly. In the process of interviewing him, he spoke of the expectation for the men at his work-- Tim is a heavy machine mechanic-- to appear masculine, an expectation that involves at times opportunities to compromise one's values. He confided that there are days when he drives home, reflecting that he failed that day to represent God well; but far from revealing him as a failure, this confession allowed me to understand just how authentic Tim is in his desire to be like his Savior. It showed me that there is a depth to Tim that often goes unnoticed, a depth that comes from the change God has made-- and is making-- in his heart. You could see it in the playful banter with the children we served, the humility he displayed as he submitted his talents to the team and orphanage leader, and in the genuine interest he took in his fellow team members' lives in general and hardships in particular. It is true that Tim's experience and skills were invaluable to the team and to the Hands and Feet director, but so-- I found-- was his heart. I know now that it was this heart, welling up from a desire for honesty and fairness, that made him the example he became to us. Far from being the brash and gruff person he sees in himself, there is a subtle gentleness to Tim that reveals just how masculine this father figure truly is.