In for the long haul

Whether David stays another week or another month, the work in Haiti is only just beginning. With a well-earned reputation for entrenched corruption, pervasive poverty being the norm and the Atlantic hurricane season coming right after the imminent rainy season, the hurdles which lie before Haiti's full recovery are daunting.


Add to this overwhelming task the apparent jockeying for position to help and challenge of co-ordination of international aid efforts, and I have to sigh as I pause to consider what shape the country of Haiti will take in the months and years to come.


That's when I am reminded that I follow a God who is able. 

Able:  having necessary power, skill, resources, or qualifications; having unusual or superior intelligence, skill, etc. 

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.

I remember the countless "hopeless" situations God has redeemed. Familiar Old Testament stories of deliverance heard since Sunday school days. Goliath felled by one stone hurled from a shepherd boy's slingshot. The Red Sea parting long enough, but only just long enough, for the Israelites to escape to safety. The widow's little jar of oil being refilled each morning. 


Are these just stories?


Yes, they would be if I didn't have the daily assurance that the ultimate redemption and act of deliverance was real. Daily, I am convinced that the horrific death of Jesus Christ on the cross did not end there. His resurrection, or return to full life, has been proven to me over and over. How? I experience a supernatural peace and hope and even joy in the midst of challenging and painful situations. An assurance that can only come from God, who cares. Who is able. Daily.


So, I cling to the Lord of all creation, look into His face and am assured that He is able to redeem, rebuild and restore Haiti. 


P.S. I fixed the link to Tuesday's taped interview. Also, I added some new links. See the sidebar on the right. Today's new photos posted to Samaritan's Purse website: http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/In_Pictures/photos/haiti_relief_day_20/

A taped interview

Here's my interview yesterday with Dave Adams, NEWS Director at 1110 KBND NEWS Radio, in Bend, Oregon. He is also involved in a central Oregon ministry known as Ephesians Vision Ministries. Only the first half or so was aired on the radio, the entire interview can be found by going to


http://www.ephesiansvisionministries.org/1_13_Haiti-Relief-Effort.html


and clicking on "to listen to the interview click here" found in the body of the paragraph (NOT the side bar).


I still haven't heard anything certain about David extending his stay. So, I wait. Waiting is good. It keeps me looking up.

Waiting

A bit of regrouping here. Adjusting to David's very connected presence in Haiti. My high school son shifting gears to graduate in March instead of June. My mom, who shares our home, adapting to some physical limitations which are not surprising, considering she is 93.

People have asked me how I am doing. Ok. I will admit this has been a stressful couple of weeks for me. And I am consciously trying to manage by going to bed at a decent hour...can you believe it, David?.... eating a bit healthier than usual, and asking friends for practical help. I have prayed more in the last two weeks than I have in a long time. 


It is well with me and mine and I feel curiously alive. But honestly, it hardly seems to matter how I am doing.


I think of the woman who is desperate to sweep up rubbish in the tent city she now calls "home" in Port-au-Prince. The $3-$5 she earns from Oxfam will feed her 6 children for the day. She is thankful for the pay, but would do it anyway, just to keep the vermin at bay.


I think of the woman in Colorado Springs who is still clinging to hope for word that her husband has survived the earthquake. Is he possibly safe in a void beneath the rubble once known as Hotel Montana, with a backpack of water and snacks?


Oh Lord, break my heart for these two women. Comfort and sustain them and the countless others that are starting over or waiting for word of their husbands.

Despair or Hope?

The story of Haiti, at this time, is not one of unending violence, looting and a population angry enough to fight over scant resources. But the people we met were wounded and weary and afraid to go back inside. The earth could shake at any moment and death could visit once again.  Closing paragraph from an article by Soledad O'Brien and Rose Arce, CNN January 30, 2010 

Healing the heart and soul is the work that the church does best.  Radio Lumiere is the voice of the church to minister to the hurting of the nation.  To do that effectively they need the equipment repaired and working reliably.  That is why I am here.  I have been greatly encouraged as I have been listening to the radio.  Pastors and others are giving much needed information, and more. They’re giving the encouragement and counsel that people really need.  Over and over again I hear pastors telling people to do what they can to share and to help others around them. ...  I heard testimonies of God's faithfulness, and also admonitions to trust the Lord in all things.  This is important work! Engineer and missionary Jerry Miel in an email letter home and forward to prayer partners. January 30, 2010

On day 18 since the earthquake, I am deeply thankful that there are people on the ground in Haiti who are also ministering to the wounded emotions and spirits of a people who have been traumatized, yet once again.  "This is important work!" 
I couldn't agree more. 


For another compelling look at "one of the modern world's worst natural disasters"
http://www.worldmag.com/articles/16380

God makes a way ~ His love is not in our league

David Torres was the leader of our disaster relief team during the first two weeks of Samaritan's Purse's response in Haiti.

Many have given up hope for this little country because despite the tremendous amounts of money, effort, and resources that are pouring in, Haiti just doesn't seem to get any better. There are even whispers that Port-au-Prince should be abandoned. Almost 200,000 Haitians have already loaded on buses and left.

The rational mind might be able to justify throwing its hands up in defeat saying, “Yes, nothing here is salvageable.” But not our God, for we are assured that His love is perfect and cannot be diminished or overwhelmed.

His love is not in our league, and we can rest in this. 

Excerpt from "God Makes a Way"
http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/articles/god_makes_a_way/ 

"Jesus is our goal" ... A surgeon's painful reflections

Dr. Dick Furman, co-founder of World Medical Mission, was part of a Samaritan's Purse team that arrived in Haiti less than a week after the earthquake to help provide emergency medical treatment. He reflected on his experiences on his flight out a week later.

I don’t know how their memories will affect me as time goes on. But now it is difficult not to compare them with life as we know it. They will not sleep in their homes because of the aftershocks. At night they still cry out and moan and wail. The stench remains in the air as you drive by building that collapsed.

And then there are the patients that survived and we operated on who are in despair with nowhere to go and loved ones dead. I made my last walk through the hospital after our surgical team meeting Monday morning. I left patients I will remember for the rest of my life. I am on the plane flying home as I think back over what was the most horrific time I have ever experienced in my life. I have never seen such suffering. I have never seen so many people go through so much sorrow. 

It surely looked different on TV. Watching it, you could get the feeling of what the earthquake was like. You could get a feel of the destruction of buildings and houses and stores. You could even get some insight into the terrible devastating feeling the people are going through.

But until you have examined a patient who was in the kitchen while her husband and four children were in the next room, 

Give to Haiti, deduct from your '09 tax returns

Thanks to a new bill passed by Congress, gifts made through February 28, 2010, for Haiti earthquake relief are eligible for a tax deduction on your 2009 return. Any gifts made to a 501c , such as Samaritan’s Purse, for Haiti relief between January 12 and February 28 can be counted as a tax-deductible contribution on Form 1040, Schedule A. 

https://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/Giving/Haiti_Donation/

Also, many corporations will match your financial gift. And many relief organizations will accept your airline miles. See this from United Airlines:

Donate miles to our partner charities who are actively involved in Haiti relief efforts through our Charity Miles Program. These organizations will use your donated miles to fly aid workers to affected areas. http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6867,1363,00.html?jumpLink=/charitymiles

The children of Haiti

But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Luke 18:16 King James Bible

These last few days I have been assured that David is doing well, so I can focus a bit more easily on my sons. One is wrapping things up to graduate from high school, hopefully in March. The other is hitting the books in his second year of college. The one at home has been teaching me how to play cribbage; the older one and I had lunch together today. I know they are safe and thriving.
But what of the children in Haiti? The ones not grown up yet. The ones dependent on the adults in their lives to care and provide for them, teach them, enjoy them and keep them safe? How do they thrive? What of the ones who have been separated by death or displacement from their parents?
And how do we process reports of child trafficking? They are disturbing, to say the least! It is difficult to accept that there are people who would take advantage of the chaos in Haiti in such a way. There are even allegations that children are being exploited as organ donors. And I thought the devastation from the earthquake itself was unimaginable! (Scroll down for today's interview on the subject with Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive.)
How can we respond? 
Pray. Such a simple word, such a powerful action. Believe. That the Lord of the universe will intervene on behalf of these children, unique images of God. That there will be such an outcry on behalf of the children of Haiti that there will be miracles of deliverance. Be ready. To give, to wait, to learn, to intervene, to suffer.
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/27/haiti.earthquake.orphans/index.html