I read early Wednesday morning about the earthquake in Haiti. At that time, no one was reporting the severity of the disaster. I went through my entire day oblivious to the tens of thousands of lives (some estimate over 100,000) that were lost. I never offered a prayer. I could not feel their pain.
I led worship Wednesday night at Crossroads, still having no idea of the magnitude of the death and destruction that had occurred on that Caribbean island. No prayers were offered for Haiti at our service. I left right after worship because I have tendinitis in the heel of my foot and it was giving me a lot of discomfort. When I got home and turned on the t.v. and begin to see the pictures and hear the reports of all the devastation, I forgot all about my tendinitis and I began to grieve. I grieve over the horrific loss these people have experienced and I grieve that I could be so unaware, so disconnected from such human suffering.
The pain in my heel affects my entire body, that's the way the human body works. It's supposed to work that way in the body of Christ as well. When one rejoices we all rejoice, when one weeps we all weep with him. This weekend at Crossroads we will pray for Haiti. This week we will send financial support. Today I weep with those who are weeping.
I have been watching and reading about this devestation since about 2 hours after the earthquake struck when there were no reporters there, only people of Haiti sending reports via facebook, Twitter, etc. It has taken hold of my days, and i even became angry with my facebook friends because everytime i log on i see no one offering prayers and no comments( except for you). It was breaking my heart to think that the people I call my friends do not have the kind of humanitarian spirit that I thought they did. I am now coming to realize that i can't expect people to stop living their lives, and I can't force them to care. I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't beat yourself up for not realizing what was going on any sooner. You're comments and prayers via Facebook was the only thing that kept me from deleting my account.
ReplyDeleteWith all of that being said, the only thing I can do for the people of Haiti is give as much money as I can, to watch their stories, and to offer as many prayers as I can. Though they have lost so many if their people, I am hoping and praying that in the next few years they will be able to pick themselves up and become stronger and more self sufficient then ever before. I pray for more miracles for them than are imaginable.
I saw the pictures last night, it brought to my heart just how much we close ourselves off to the things that are not right in our face.
ReplyDeleteHey Jeff, I read your blog about Haiti and it's really touching and true. Our son lives in Haiti, we are adopting him from a mission there. Me and Jeff have been there three times and has seen Haiti pre-earthquake. On a normal day, it pretty much looks like New Orleans the day after Katrina. I can't imagine the country going through such devastation. Our son and the mission he is at felt the earthquake but they were not hit. They are ok. Some of the staff already knows of family that is dead but most can't get in touch with their families at all. The mission that we are adopting from is needing monetary donations for food and fuel for generators. Although they were not directly hit, the supply is down and the prices are up. The AG has two missionaries there and donations can be given on AG's website. But I'm sure you already got that information, too. : ) Thank you for your prayers and support. Someday you and Donna should come with us. Haiti needs Jesus.
ReplyDeleteGod has laid it on my heart to gather donations to send to Haiti. I already spoke with Charlie and he gave me the ok to do what God is leading me to do but time is limited. We got a message from Continental Airlines that they are sending a relief flight out next Friday. I would like to have whatever donations we are able to collect sent out on that flight. The items they are collecting are blankets, over the counter meds, non-perishable foods, diapers, baby wipes, underwear, clothing, etc. I know for certain that there are in dire need of children items and formula for the orphanage. There is prayer that the government will allow the children that were in the process of adoption to be release on humanitarian grounds. The court house and judge overseeing the adoptions was killed so all adoptions are at a stand still. They are expecting a huge influx of orphaned children to arrive daily to their already overpopulated orphanage. A dear friend and brother in the Tribe of Judah motorcycle ministry with us (Jeff Givens-Alabama) was just there for outreach in December and another (Jeff -Ohio and his son) are currently there. They felt the quake 60 miles away. Here is a link to the orphanage http://www.godslittlestangelsinhaiti.org/ as well as a blog from friends of Jeff who are still there. http://glahaiti.org/blog_dixie_haiti Anyway, if there is anything the church can do to assist in this effort we are planning to deliver items to the airport sometimes next week. If there is any concern about the media announcement of ground stop on all flights; I was told that they have assistance getting this flight in. And, the ground stop is expected to be lifted or eased by next week when the flight is scheduled to depart.
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