G.O. Help Haiti

Our hearts are very heavy this morning. Parts of Haiti lay in total destruction. The death tolls continue to rise.

Fear grips our brothers and sisters as they continue to sleep outdoors for fear of sleeping in what remains of their houses as the threat of aftershocks continue.

I was in my house sitting at my computer, much like I am now, when Alan asked if I could feel the ground shaking. At first I felt nothing and then a slow rocking and then the jingling of our light hanging in the kitchen as it began to sway back and forth... it lasted about 30-45 seconds. We had no idea the tragedy that was unfolding.

We sit here feeling helpless continuing to follow news reports, some of us have been interviewed by our home town news stations and the emails and phone calls continue to pour in.

On a good day in Haiti, (one that hasn't been rocked by a major earthquake) the people scrape by with whatever they can. The average income in Haiti is around $560 US dollars YEARLY. That means they live and feed their families on about $1.50 per day. They mass produce "dirt cookies," which are made from salt, oil and the dirt from the ground people walk on. They mix the ingedients and bake them on roof tops in the sun, all in efforts to stave off the hunger pains. This is a good day...

How do we reconcile this, how do we cope with such tragedies in the world? We see atrocities everyday all across the world. Wars, starvation, children forced into slavery or turned into child soldiers, rape, hate crimes.

We reconcile this through the hope we have through our Creator and our Maker. That He, who knows every hair on every Haitian man, woman, and child's head will redeem His people and take something so terrible and devastating and make it glorious. I believe He is doing this right now, through His people, through surrounding countries, through The Church. I am told the news is covering every inch of this in the States and I am greatful for the awareness it is bringing to a country many Americans couldn't locate on a map (I couldn't before I came on my first mission trip here).

I believe this section of scripture helps paint a picture of what is happening now and for what is to come.

Romans 8:18-27

I consider that our present sufferings

are not worth comparing with the glory

that will be revealed in us.

The creation waits in eager expectation

for the sons of God to be revealed.

For the creation was subjected to frustration,

not by its own choice, but by the will of the one

who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself

will be liberated from its bondage to decay and

brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

We know that the whole creation has

been groaning as in the pains of childbirth

right up to the present time. Not only so,

but we ourselves, who have the

firstfruits of the Spirit,

groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our

adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

For in this hope we were saved.

But hope that is seen is no hope at all.

Who hopes for what he already has?

But if we hope for what we do not yet have,

we wait for it patiently.

In the same way, the Spirit

helps us in our weakness.

We do not know what we ought to pray for,

but the Spirit himself intercedes for us

with groans that words cannot express.

And he who searches our hearts knows the

mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes

for the saints in accordance with God's will.

We have an opportunity here... No, not an opportunity. We have a responsibility to be The Church. To care after the orphans and the widows. To step in, in Haiti's great time of need and be a voice of hope. To be the hands and feet of a Christ who loved us so much He shed His bled and died for us. How can we ever begin to repay? Dear brothers and sisters, I urge you to fall to your knees in ferverent prayer for Haiti. I urge you to financially give to help our (mine and yours) brothers and sisters suffering in Haiti. They need us in such a time as this.

G.O. Ministries has set up an online relief fund and we will be working with several organizations on the ground in Haiti distributing 100% of what we can raise to help aid the relief efforts. http://www.go-ministries.org/ on the front page is more information on how you can give.

I posted this section of scripture and pictures from Haiti a few weeks ago on my last post about Haiti. http://alanandjackie.blogspot.com/2009/12/pictures-worth-thousand-words.html

Grieving and Praying for Haiti.

Alan and Jackie