Some perspective....

I recently received a message from someone saying they were glad I was here in Haiti. Their next sentence was, "Is it really as bad as the news makes it look?" I replied back that it wasn't as bad as the news is making it.

It's worse.

Few at home will ever know what Haiti is like right now and it's difficult for me to put into words.

I was talking to someone the other night about how beautiful Italy is and how happy it makes me to be there. They asked me to describe the countryside to them. I did my best, but told them you really could not fully describe the beauty of God's creation to somebody, you just had to experience it. Today, I'm thinking it is the same with trying to describe complete and utter destruction.

Since you're not here I'll attempt to share this with you...through pictures and words. Few words because your emotions will give you the right ones I cannot provide.

Picture the White House. Some of us have stood in front of the gates, some been inside. All have seen pictures. Picture its grandeur. Picture what it means to our country, to our leadership our pride and our strength. Now, picture the majestic building collapsed...as in...the bottom floors giving way to the floors above it and the White House just sinking in to itself. This is the "White House" of Haiti:


Now imagine our Senate, Treasury....everything where our important papers are and decisions for the country are made. Nearly every Haitian government building looks like this:


Yes, government has its issues. Regardless of any of that, because all was lost in the collapse of these buildings, the people of Haiti have lost their "existence" in the country they live in.

Haiti is a deeply spiritual nation. Most of the country is Roman Catholic. Here is their Cathedral...their place of worship....the place young men and women became husbands and wives, where children sat by their parent's side during church....where they found community:


And now the people who depend on Haiti's government and who worshiped in the Cathedral have homes that look like this:






It's definitely not easy to summarize the situation. What I can tell you is that, as my pastor Mike Glenn has said repeatedly, Haiti is not going to be a problem that goes away overnight. It is a marathon. So, if you've given your $10 to the cause and think that's all that's required of you, I encourage you to pray over that again. If you've stopped keeping the people of Haiti in your prayers, I implore you to petition God on their behalf in everything you and your family pray for. And, if you are a church body wanting to put your love and faith into action and compassion, then do not waste a moment.

There are vast ways in which you, your family, church, school, office and community can help. If you sit and say you don't know where to start, I'll sit there with you and give you possibilities to pray over. Anything is possible. What is not acceptable is saying that nothing you do can make a difference. Every ONE THING you do makes a profound difference.

Especially to the orphaned, the abandoned...the displaced and the vulnerable children of Haiti. Children like these precious ones:



Pray. Get involved. Advocate. Give. Check out HORT at www.haitiorphanproject.org or Sweet Sleep at www.sweetsleep.org. Do something. Today.

See you in the next blog,
Jen