By Robyn Bright, Guest Blogger
I set out this morning to write a blog about Haiti, to help wade through the rush of thoughts and emotions I have had and felt since Tuesday afternoon when we first heard word that an earthquake had hit the country. As countless newspapers, broadcasters and colleagues have made clear, the impact of the quake has been more than devastating; the healing and rebuilding process from it is undoubtedly years from over. As I have thought and wept about what has happened, about the families and children affected, increasingly I’ve found myself compelled to think about the person of Jesus, who he was and is, how he would respond to this crisis, and what he would ask us, as a community of Canadians who love him and follow him, to do. I do not claim by any stretch of the imagination to have all of the answers to this question, but it seems now is a time for prayer and other practical action as a nation for the people of Haiti, to help facilitate the healing, renewal, and rebuilding needed both immediately and in the days, months and years to come.
Since joining Micah Challenge Canada, one of the scriptures that has come to sit at the forefront of my mind is that found in Isaiah 9, when he describes the son that would be born some several thousand years later, and the hope he would bring to world – a world full of suffering people, of orphans, of those living and dying in conflict. “For unto us”, writes the prophet, unto us in our joy, our suffering, in pain, in health, in whatever life station we find ourselves in, unto us, “a child is born.” And that child, amongst his vast number of loving and powerful characteristics, was prophesied and promised to be an Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
At the risk of sounding too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good, when I think about Haiti, and I think about Jesus, I cannot escape the necessary conclusion that he is the Prince of Peace over Haiti, even in the midst of the chaos. As such I am compelled to reach out to him, to praise him and to ask him, in his love and grace and overwhelming mercy, to embrace Haiti and respond to her needs. But it can’t stop there. Prayer is powerful, a beautiful and unique tool we are given whose impact we cannot fully grasp, but we have also been given hard resources – time, money – that we can use to alleviate suffering and communicate God’s compassion in the midst of great sadness. And so I challenge myself, and invite you to join me both in prayer for those affected, and other forms of practical action, not only to respond to immediate felt needs, but to clearly communicate that in the midst of loss, those who have been affected are not alone. Here are some things we can do to help:
Many of our Micah Challenge and EFC affiliates have partners and colleagues on the ground in Haiti who are working to respond to the crisis. They are doing this while reeling from the impact it has had on family members, colleagues, and friends, as many were present in Haiti before the earthquake and will be there long after it has exited the news cycle. We encourage you to support them in prayer, and to consider providing financial assistance to their organizations as they work to meet immediate needs across the nation.
Please pray for the Haitian government, that they would exercise wisdom in their response to this unanticipated catastrophe and the years of rebuilding that lie ahead. As one of our field partners shared with us, while Haitians are well versed in responding to the frequent hurricanes experienced in the region, Haiti has not seen an earthquake of this magnitude since 1847.
Pray for the people of Haiti, as they continue to search for survivors, mourn victims, and seek out the bare essentials while contending with no electricity, scarce freshwater, minimal communication infrastructure, limited health care support and scant food. Pray for peace in the midst of chaos, as many fear that in the absence of these necessities, large scale panic may ensue.
You can also pray for our Canadian government, that they continue to provide global leadership in responding to the crisis. Already, the Canadian government has deployed the DART team to Haiti and committed 5 million dollars in emergency relief aid to the country. We commend them for their swift response to the crisis and leadership, and for offering to meet dollar for dollar the donations made by Canadians to many emergency relief agencies. We encourage you to support the government in this important and generous action, and to give to the relief efforts already underway.
Allow your heart to be broken for our Haitian brothers and sisters, whose lives have been forever changed by this disaster. So often I find that when overwhelmed by the magnitude of the world’s hurts and pain I want to close myself off to try to reduce its impact on me. But now, in this crisis, I choose to challenge us collectively not to do so. Instead, let’s call out to the Father of all for help and love, and ask him to move powerfully and miraculously to respond to the people in Haiti and let us take whatever additional actions we can to assist in helping meet their needs.
Finally, please remember Haiti when the dust has settled, and news coverage has shifted to the next breaking story. We will likely stop hearing about Haiti in several weeks’ time, but the pain of losing family members, of rebuilding destroyed homes, of struggling to find food each day will last much longer. Let us be a people that continues to reach out, to pray, to ask how we can help in the coming months, that is ready to listen and care. Let us be a people of prayer and action and commitment.
Guest blogger – Robyn Bright, National Co-ordinator for Micah Challenge Canada, a partnership organization in which the EFC is one of the partners.