Pray for Haiti

My heart hurts for Haiti in a way I can't really articulate right now. I went there as an 18-year-old "I'm going to teach and help and save the world" and came back with my own worldview rocked. Forever changed. Haiti is so naturally beautiful (though deforested and destroyed by a few greedy humans), with beautiful gracious warm people, who have every human reason to NOT be gracious and warm, yet they are. It defied all description then, and it still does now.

I remember getting there, and our airport was literally a strip of dirt with chickens running around, and a few chairs with a tin roof over top. I remember never being sure of someone's age - because a 21-year old may look 15 because he is so malnourished, or a 21-year-old may look 40, because life is SO incredibly difficult there. I remember the first night we were there we passed a funeral procession and it shocked me how normal death was there - we take for granted our 75-year lifespan. I remember one little boy (not much older than my own son is now) in particular - who, when asked if he was happy - responded, "Yes. I have clothes, I have one meal a day, and I have God." I remember the absolute sincerity of the Christians in Haiti - praying the Lord's Prayer took on a whole new meaning, because these people DO literally depend on provision for their daily bread. There were lots of people who weren't Christians there, but I never met a Christian that wasn't absolutely, 100%, sold-out for Jesus. None of this lukewarm nonsense that we have here. I remember when we left, as the plane was taking off, looking back at the mountains and beaches and the land, and sobbing my eyes out because I didn't want to leave. (That in spite of the many tarantulas everywhere, and the rat that crawled into my bed one night. That was a long night.) It was a lot for an 18-year-old to process, and thinking about it again is a lot for a 30-year-old to reprocess.

Hearing about the earthquakes there has brought all these memories (and more) of Haiti flooding back, and having seen for myself the near-total lack of infrastructure, I can only imagine what the devastation levels are. These are people who literally have nothing. Not money, not food, not shelter....NOTHING. And now, they have less than nothing.

If you can spare any money at all, this is a plea for help for that country. We're going to donate to the ministry I went there with all those years ago, who will be sending people to the worst-hit area to help, but there are numerous other organizations (the Red Cross, Rotary International) that are helping also.

The Livesays are also on the ground there and the fear and pain in their posts is palpable.

If you pray, please pray. And whether you do or don't pray, please consider helping Haiti out. Truly incredible how far a dollar will go there. Thanks.