I’m trying to figure out what to do about Haiti.
I know. It sounds dumb. Like it’s up to me to figure out massive physical damage, horrible family destruction, ruined infrastructure. Other people are doing lots of things, from texting donations to holding prayer services. The denomination I’m connected to is looking long-term, planning to help people in Haiti help other Haitians.
At this point, I’m still trying to figure out what to do.
Part of the problem is that I don’t want to do the wrong thing. I don’t want to give in a way that is wasted. I don’t want to look at the long-term and not help people have the water that they need to get from now to then.
Part of the problem is that I know that the problems now are about logistics and political structures and how many planes can land on the runway. I can’t do anything about those issues. The decisions that resulted in this airport were made long ago.
And part of the problem, for me, is that as soon as I open my mouth, and heart, to think about the spiritual side of the situation, I will walk into complicated conversations.
- Is this God’s judgment for some deal with the devil?
- How can God allow disasters like this that kill people? I mean, in wars you can blame “man’s inhumanity to man.” But this? This is God, isn’t it?
- Why do things like this happen to poor countries and to poor people in those countries?
I’m pretty sure I need to figure out how to do something. In Proverbs 17:5 we read:
He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker;
whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.
I need to help. I dare not say, “see what happens?”
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My friend Cheryl Smith writes about one organization that was helping ahead of time. Read Positioning World Help for Haiti.
I talked about the idea of doing something in Something, a post about Matthew 25.
300 words a day 
Frank Reed
Jon- I feel the same way. For me, the best I can do is support World Vision and trust that they will do the right thing. It’s a tough question but I don’t ask why God did this or allowed this. He has his reasons and Isaiah 55:8-9 when The Lord tells us:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord
As for the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
In other words, God is sovereign and He has a plan which I won’t understand on this side of the grave for sure but maybe never for eternity because thankfully, I am not him, I am just me.
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Rich Dixon
I was just thinking–it’s a good thing that THE WORD didn’t wait until He was sure the effort wouldn’t be wasted or ignored. If He had waited for an appreciative audience, He’d still be waiting. Instead He did God’s will and said, “Father, forgive them” when people didn’t get it.
If we do something in His name, He’ll use it for good (Rom 8:28) even when we don’t get it exactly right.
Another thought–C.S. Lewis once said that we’re caught in a spiritual insurrection and that we currently live in enemy-occupied territory. Tragedy is NOT God’s doing, though the enemy would very much like us to blame God for the evil that results from a broken world.
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Cheryl Smith
Jon,
My prayer of late is that I don’t become so desensitized that I loose sight of all that God would teach me through this. Here’s a quick list so far:
1. Before the earthquake, Haiti was already the poorest country in the western hemisphere, where 8 out of 10 people lived in poverty.
2. I wasn’t aware nor concerned. Maybe that’s the hardest pill to swallow.
3. There are many people following God’s call to minister in Haiti, even before the earthquake. And in New Orleans before Katrina, etc.
4. God doesn’t call us to “fix it” all.
5. God does call us to do something. To care. For widows, orphans. Homeless. Helpless. Sick. Imprisoned. Those without hope. And without means to help themselves.
6. I need to be open to the opportunities God gives me, whether it’s helping an organization like World Help, or listening to God’s invitation from a letter carrier. http://www.culturesmithconsulting.com/2008/10/god-showed-up-as-a-mailman/
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Danny Bixby
Proverbs 17 hits it for me too.
There are plenty of groups already on the ground and working hard in Haiti that have incredibly high efficiency ratings as charities.
World Vision & Compassion International for example are both top 10 efficient charities (95%/ish of every dollar goes straight out to the needs). And they have disaster relief efforts going in full swing in Haiti already.
It’s a place to start at least.
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Rick Dugan
Hi Jon,
I don’t have the info in front of me, but the Missionary Church will be channeling aid through it’s churches in Haiti. There are two reasons why I think this is a good idea.
1. In my past experience, the churches are able to address the problems holistically – including the massive spiritual questions that surface and shake people’s souls in the midst of such tragedy. They can pull people out, feed them, hold them, and pray with them.
2. The churches are grass roots. They were there before this happened and they’ll be around long after the media frenzy is over. While the work of the big charities is important, it’s usually not personal. The Haitian churches aren’t just pulling ‘people’ out of buildings, they’re pulling neighbors and relatives out of buildings.
3. Churches, with their emphasis on discipleship, can help promote long-term, grass-roots solutions that address some of the foundational problems – spiritual and otherwise – that allowed this to become far more devastating than it needed to be.
Ok, that’s three reasons. 🙂
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Jon Swanson
“The Haitian churches aren’t just pulling ‘people’ out of buildings, they’re pulling neighbors and relatives out of buildings.”
Oh Rick.
Thank you all for your comments on this post.
And Cheryl, “2. I wasn’t aware nor concerned. Maybe that’s the hardest pill to swallow.”
I think that’s what’s challenging me most.
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