Thoughts on Haiti

I want to share a few posts from friends on the situation on Haiti, that I found challenging and encouraging.


From Jennifer:
My heart hurts for Haiti. And my heart hurts for the so very many who will continue to live in circumstances we could never even begin to imagine - day after day - while we slowly make our way back to normal life. My heart hurts that it takes this level of desperation to change us - and the change doesn't last very long, does it?

note - there is already so much to pray for, but add the 254 Haitian children who were in the process of being adopted by American families - pray that the US government grants them humanitarian visa status and that the Haitian government is somehow able to work together with our government to let these children come home to their families.

From Brianna:
Haiti wasn't really on most people's radar screens before this earthquake happened. But it was hurting. And incredibly impoverished. Countless orphans waiting for families. People dying of what should be preventable causes. Many hungry and starving. God sees these things all the time, but we only see them when we want to. Or when the media tells us to look. (I will again recommend Tracy Kidder's Mountains Beyond Mountains. It's awesome.)

If we care about the vulnerable children of Haiti, let's really DO something. After we send our money to Red Cross, let's pursue an adoption of a waiting child somewhere in the world. Or become a foster parent. Or give away a bunch of money to build a well somewhere. Or commit to permanently downsizing something in our life in order to continue giving to Haiti, even after CNN has stopped talking about it.

I'm wondering if our hearts start becoming numb to people and tragedies, if we simply endure one media frenzy after another, give a few bucks, and then go right back to our lattes and iphones and "reality" TV shows?

Guess I just wanted to remind everyone, including myself, that there are kids sitting around all over the world today waiting for families. There are hungry women unable to feed their
babies, there are families struggling to survive in refugee camps. Instead of despairing or just wringing our hands, we can do something. And we should.


From Jody:
God does not sleep.

He knows.

He’s weeping.

He’s moving.

and long after our compassion fatigues, He is there.

and before we were paying attention, He was there.