Haiti Crisis Update #11 from Jimmy Dodd
January 28, 2010 - 04:00:45 PM by Eric Rochester
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The Big Picture
- There is an amazing opportunity for your local church to provide meals to Haiti. See below.
- ‘Normalcy’ slowly resuming to Haiti…Commerce is reportedly resuming around Haiti. Cross International Projects Officer Michael Wilson said, “We saw a few banks open. Gas stations. A grocery store. Haiti-grown staples seem to be abundant on the streets and in the markets. Tap taps (Haitian buses and taxis) are running. People are in the streets. We have seen no looting, rioting, or anarchy that some have portrayed. We have seen IDP camps in all sorts of places. Water trucks giving out water. Restaurants serving as soup kitchens. And a spirit, while certainly battered and bruised, equally most certain not broken.”
- Schools to reopen…In a dramatic reversal of a decision made just one week ago, education officials in Haiti hope to reopen some schools by next week, but with thousands of children and teachers dislocated and as many as 8,000 schools reduced to rubble, it remains unclear how many classrooms can be used, or how many students will return.
- Rainy season looming: Government agencies have cited ready-to-eat food as an immediate need, and more tents and shelters to be needed with the onset of the April rainy season.
- Orphan offered for $50 Human trafficking continues to be a major problem in Haiti. The first confirmed case of a child being offered for sale since Haiti was devastated on Jan 12 took place near Gonaives, 150km north of Port-au-Prince. It was reported by Noel Ismonin, a Canadian pastor who rescues orphans in the area. A man offered to sell him the boy but the pastor refused.
- Incredible stories of God’s provision in the midst of disaster can be found here
- If you are interested in the US government daily report (very interesting reading) click here for the most up-to-date situation reports on the disaster that I’ve seen. You’ll have to go into the Haiti earthquake page and then access the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) report. Updated every day.
Reflection
As I continue to reflect on Romans 8:28 and it’s promise of God working alll things – even Haitian earthquakes – for our ultimate good and God’s ultimate glory, I have found myself drawn time and time again to the story of Dan Woolley and his rescue from the Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince.
Dan, a member of Woodmen Valley Chapel in Colorado Springs, was in Haiti with Compassion International. At the time of the earthquake, he was in the hotel after a day of shooting video for a Compassion project. Dan was trapped in an elevator shaft for several days before his dramatic rescue by a French search and rescue team.
Dan has become quite famous for using his iphone apps to save his life. He used apps to guide himself through first aid procedures which may have ultimately saved his life. He set his iphone alarm to wake him up every 20 minutes as he read that falling asleep was the first step towards death. No doubt, Dan’s story will make it into the next iphone app commercial. “Need to survive for 65 hours after being trapped by falling concrete – There’s an app for that”.
But, Dan is famous with me for another reason. During his multi day ordeal, Dan faced reality. Accessing the situation, he concluded that he may not make it out alive. In dark and cramped quarters, he had access to a notebook and a pen. And, like any parent who has only limited time left in this world – he wrote letters to his wife and children. His letter to his two sons, ages six and three, was written in the notebook stained with blood and tears. To his sons, he wrote the following:
“I was in a big accident. Don’t be upset at God. He always provides for His children even in hard times. I’m still praying that God will get me out, but He may not. But, He will always take care of you.”
This is Romans 8:28 in the words of a dying man. This is Romans 8:28 real life. Dan was right – We should not be upset with God. God does provide for his children. God will always take care of his children. As Dan wrote his letters, he shared his heartfelt words from an eternal perspective. Ultimately, the earthquake would be used for good, and ultimately, the earthquake would be used for God’s glory. It is Daniel 3:16 – Haiti instead of Babylonia.
16Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
I am immensely grateful for Dan Woolley and his faith in Jesus.
Pastor Scott Hickox sent me some great quotes which further reflect upon this truth…
Kevin DeYoung, writing in Why we Love the Church says,
“As evangelicals, we’ve become addicted to happy ending stories where we go through “x” (hard thing) and then start praying and then – Shazam! – God makes everything better and we have a nice, utopian story to tell where we are the hero who ends up with the great job, the great family, the time off, the free plane ticket, the lost purse, or the great healthy kids. The fact of the matter is, sometimes (often) the happy ending is heaven, and the getting there is a really difficult but formative part of our sanctification. And sometimes what God wants in the interim is for us to find our happiness, holiness and identity in Him, rather than our perfect jobs, perfect 2.5 kids and perfect testimonies.”
While Dan Woolley is an incredible story – with an incredibly happy ending – his letter to his kid really strikes at the heart of the issue of God working for our ultimate good and his ultimate glory. “I’m still praying that God will get me out, but He may not. But, He will always take care of you.” Has better theology ever been uttered from beneath tons of concrete!
Along this same line of thinking, Larry Crabb writes, “As a culture, present-day Christianity has redefined spiritual maturity. The reformers knew we were saved to glorify God. We moderns live to be blessed. The mature among us are now thought to be the successful, the happy, the effective people on top of things and doing well… We’re more attracted to sermons, books, and conferences that reveal the secrets to fulfillment…than to spiritual direction that leads us through affliction into the presence of the Father… We seem more interested in managing life into a comfortable existence than in letting God spiritually transform us through life’s hardships.”
2 Cor 4:17-18 says,
“..For this slight, momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal..”
John Piper, in commenting the passage says, “Our suffering is momentary, it might just last a lifetime.” That’s a perspective I seldom consider.
How you can Help
In past updates, I have written about the opportunity to pack meals for Haiti. Now, the opportunity can come to you!!
In past updates I have written about the opportunity to pack meals for Haiti at the Youthfront auditorium, a ministry in Kansas City. Youthfront of Kansas City Feed the Hunger initiative is mobilizing teams around Kansas City to tangibly bless God’s hurting children in Haiti, in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake. The meals consist of rice, dried vegetables, soy protein, and essential vitamins. This is a great way to serve Haiti – for students, families, businesses, Church groups, neighborhood groups, etc.
Last night hundreds of people packed the forty assembly stations at Youthfront packing thousands of meals. As the first wave of relief comes on the ground to supply Haiti’s most urgent needs, Youthfront and our distribution partners in Haiti are preparing to send a secondary tier of aid. This will more efficiently reach the most vulnerable people after the current relief efforts resolve the initial bottlenecks of distribution. These measured efforts will help to sustainably and responsibly address the continuing hunger that will persist over the next critical weeks and months. Through Youthfront’s additional partnerships and financial support to cover overhead costs, volunteers will package and deliver meals to our partners in Haiti for only 20 cents per meal.
The meal packing ministry at Youthfront is scheduled to conclude this weekend. Now, you have the opportunity to bring a meal packing line to your church!
The Youthfront auditorium is rented out by another group next week. Rather than shut down this amazing ministry, YouthFront can send an assembly station to your church. Imagine a room where church families come for an hour or two to pack meals for Haiti. This would be a great hands on ministry for any church. The assembly line can handle ten people at once.
To package meals, the process is simple. People pay for the number of meals they wish to package, receive a brief orientation on the packaging process, and then pack until all of their bags are sealed and boxed. For a $30 donation, one person can package 150 meals in about one hour.
Youthfront is distributing the first shipment through Touch Global and The Global Orphan Project.
Start a sign up sheet at your church and schedule teams of ten every hour. Senior adult retirees could come during the day, families could come in the afternoon and early evening and youth and young adult could come at night. Call Youthfront at 913-262-3900 for details.
Mission Trip Information
If you have any interest in traveling to Haiti, now is the time to get your Passport and Shots (Tetanus, Hep A and Hep B series).
For mission trips to Haiti with the Global Orphan Project – go here
For mission trips to Haiti with El Shaddai Ministries, contact esmieletter@aol.com
Giving Information
HR 4462 law allows an immediate deduction on your 2009 tax return for certain earthquake related charitable contributions.
If you make a 2010 donation to a domestic charity specifically for the relief of victims in the areas affected by the January 12 Haitian earthquake, you may be able to deduct the amount on your 2009 tax return. Here are some requirements:
- The donation must be made after January 11, 2010 and before March 1, 2010.
- The donation must be supported by the general documentation rules – generally a cancelled check, credit card receipt, or telephone bill supporting a text message contribution, and if the donation is either actual cash or $250 or more, you must also have a receipt from the organization.
- The donation can be deducted in either 2009 or 2010 (but not both years).
- You must itemize deductions to be able to deduct charitable contributions.
Highly Recommended Relief Agencies:
- To help sponsor the shipment of a container at $8,000 each—visit here
- To get your church involved in filling a container with emergency goods—visit here and click the online information request form.
- To keep apprised of ongoing relief efforts—visit here
Many have asked me to recommend additional ministries working in Haiti. While there is no way I could provide an exhaustive list of ministries doing great work in Haiti, in addition to the five agencies listed above, I can personally recommend the following ministries:
Nazarene Compassionate Ministries
Finally, I am aware that many Catholics prefer to give only to Catholic relief agencies. I recommend:
Cross International Catholic Outreach
Jimmy Dodd
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