God’s Hand in Haiti
What happened in Haiti this week has shaken the entire world. As the scenes and stories of destruction keep coming in from the news media and the faces of these poor hurting people splash across our computer and TV screens into our comfortable homes; who is not shaken by this? Estimates of 140,000 dead… bodies stacked in the streets… desperate family members digging by hand through concrete rubble, hoping against hope to find their loved ones… multitudes of wounded and dying lying in misery in fields or the streets without food or water for days… helplessness as far as the eye can see… and the earth continues to tremble reminding everyone there of the uncontrollable forces that have worked such destruction and death.
Questions immediately arise. Some are very uncomfortable: How does a Christian deal with all of this? Is God’s hand at work in Haiti? Is this simply a natural disaster that has nothing to do with God at all? If God IS at work in this, what does He want us to do?
We who believe in a sovereign God who created all things and who is in control of this universe have little choice but to accept the harsh reality of not only the disaster in Haiti, but also the hand of God in it. To believe otherwise would mean things about God that would ultimately undermine the very meaning of the Christian faith and the truth of God’s word. Instead of blaming God or defending God in the midst of this, our first duty is to bow before God, to pray for those who suffer, to listen to God and to respond obediently with both physical and spiritual aid. God’s word tells us in Proverbs 21:13 If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.
Let us pray: Our Father in heaven, holy is your name. We worship you, Father, the maker of heaven and earth. We acknowledge you as the One in whom we live and move and have our very being. Father, through Jesus Christ, your Son you have taught us to ask and we will receive, to seek and we will find, to knock and the door will be opened. Your word tells us that you love us so much you gave your only begotten Son who died for us, took our punishment and paid for our sins, who was buried and who rose again and reigns with you as our King and Lord. Father, you call everyone to believe in Jesus Christ for eternal life, to enter his death, burial and resurrection through baptism and to obey him as our Lord and receive all spiritual blessings in him.
Father, your word tells us that you work all things together for good to those that love you and are called according to your purposes. We believe your word is true. By your grace to us you are our God and we bow before you. Father, we come before you and lay before you our petitions for the people of Haiti. I will not speak for all who are here, but I believe your hand is in all of this. I believe that you are drawing our attention to the terrible condition of these people so that your word may spread and souls may be saved that would never have come to know you apart from this terrible disaster. Father, the images we have seen have stirred our hearts and minds. Please show us what you would have us do and give us courage and faith to do it.
Father your eyes see the true condition of our world every minute. You see the millions who die every day without Christ and without hope. While we sit comfortably in our homes and enjoy the benefits of our bounty, you see the tragedies and destruction of sin that goes on all around us. This week we are shaken to awareness by this earthquake in Haiti, made deeply aware of the frailty of life and the misery of suffering. Open our eyes even wider, Holy Father, to see the lost condition of souls all around us. Shatter our complacency and shake us free from the stupor of worldliness. May we enter your service as saints are supposed to do so. May we join together as the body of Christ and answer the cry of the needy and poor with sacrificial offerings of time, money and prayer. As we lift the Haitian people to you in prayer, Father, please hear the cries of the suffering; open their hearts to Jesus Christ, the true bread of life and water of life. Bless your church to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ to these people. Most importantly, may many souls that would be lost forever without hope and without Christ be rescued from the dominion of darkness, saved from sin’s grip of death and destruction and transferred to the kingdom of your beloved Son, as they hear the gospel of your grace and follow our Lord and only Savior, Jesus Christ… in whose name we pray. Amen.
I received this email from my mom.
Here are messages from Jean Robert St. Hilaire, our contact in Port au Prince.
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Wednesday, 1-12-2010
Brethren Good morning.
I hope you are fine by the grace of God.
We'd like to thank each and every one of you for your prayers and concern on what's happened here in Haiti yesterday. It is the worst experience that I’ve ever had in my life. Yesterday around 4:00 p.m, the earthquake trapped me in my house as I was just coming, preparing to go back to the School of Preaching. The quake lasted about 60 seconds, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake. Right after the brake I run out with my family, but the house was moving all over the place.
One of the students call to tell me how bad they were down at the church building, and I've asked them to leave. I took my family out as we couldn't go back inside, instead we go to the church building at Delmas. Everything like church furniture were broken a part, several parts of the building are destroyed. Church members are homeless, many are injured, one Elder, Brother Carlo Mardy’s daughter died under concrete (she is around 25 years old). We've lost several church members in that disaster, we cannot do any estimate yet because we have no firefighters, most of the official buildings are fallen down, the presidential palace is broken, etc...
We are still in the street, because the land is trembling every 15 to 30 minutes all night. And also we are searching for church members who are injured at the same time. No hospitals, no rescuers, almost nothing... The Haitian government is asking for help from the International Community to rescue people under the debris.
Haiti is almost totally lost, especially in the west including Port-au-Prince, Delmas and Petion-Ville.
We are asking for your prayers and material supports of all kind at this crucial time. Please, please, do something for our brothers and sisters. We will have to bury many people...
My phone lines are still not working.
We need your help. For any information or to make a donation, You may contact our Elders at the:
Northeast Church of Christ
2217 Beechnut Dr.
Kingsport, TN. 37660
Keep Haiti in mind and in your prayers please.
A very small servant of the King of kings,
Jean Robert.
1-12-2010
This afternoon:
Brethren,
Good afternoon.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – A strong earthquake hit the impoverished country of Haiti on Tuesday afternoon as you all know, where most hospitals collapsed and people were screaming for help. 60% of buildings also were damaged.
The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.0 and was centered about 14 miles (22 kilometers) west from the capital of Port-au-Prince, according to the Geological Survey.
We are deeply touched by Haiti's worst earthquake. Please, show solidarity with the Haitian people by thinking how you can help one way or another. Most key official and public buildings in the Capital, including the white house have been severely damaged; thousands of people are still under heavy rubbles.
There is no way to evaluate the church building damages right now, the streets, the buildings are still dangerous. There is no electricity, I am using a small power converter that Sam brought for me years ago in my car. There is no fuel, all gas stations are closed. The biggest grocery stores are collapsed there is no food. You can see only dead bodies everywhere, all over the streets.
We need help right now to give health care to some of our members, we need food to feed the homeless, we need financial support to bury our members who are dead, most of them are still under concrete.
The situation is urgent. We've already counted 9 of our members died; we're still looking for dead bodies. We have almost 50 members who need medical care, almost 290 homeless. Terribly sad. There is not even bread to eat right now.
I've tried to spread the event update to many congregations in the United States, some of them have already read the update that I've sent.
My family and myself are safe but we are in the street, we do not go to our house because every time the land is still trembling for a few seconds.
May God bless you all.
A very small servant of the King of kings,
Jean Robert.
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Turn in your Bibles to Hebrews 12 and listen to these words of God that are so fitting for this day.
25See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens." 27The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
28Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29for our "God is a consuming fire."
What can you and I do?
We can fast and pray – James 5 tells us: 13Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. 17Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. 19My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, 20remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
We can give – Jesus tells us in Luke 6: 30Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you. 32"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. 33And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. 34And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. 35But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Some of us can plan to go, others can send – Jesus told us to go into all the world and preach the gospel. When Katrina hit our own country, we prayed and gave, but didn’t go. When the tsunami hit India and the surrounding countries we prayed and gave, but didn’t go. This time, I want to pray, give AND go. I believe God uses times like this to open hearts and awaken both those who go and those who receive the message. God prepares not only the hearers of the gospel but those who proclaim it as well. In the book of Acts we see how God both opened the door for the gospel to be taught, but also sent messengers as well.
Isaiah came into God’s presence in the year King Uzziah died. God used this terrible time to call Isaiah into service. Turn with me to Isaiah 6 and read how God got Isaiah’s attention and prepared him to preach:
Isaiah's Commission
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory."
4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
Here Isaiah saw his true condition and the condition of the people…
5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."
Upon Isaiah’s awareness and confession, God cleansed him and called him into service…
6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"
Isaiah answered God’s call!
And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
God gave Isaiah the message to preach…
9 He said, "Go and tell this people:
" 'Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.'
10 Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their ears dull
and close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed."
11 Then I said, "For how long, O Lord?"
And he answered:
"Until the cities lie ruined
and without inhabitant,
until the houses are left deserted
and the fields ruined and ravaged,
12 until the LORD has sent everyone far away
and the land is utterly forsaken.
13 And though a tenth remains in the land,
it will again be laid waste.
But as the terebinth and oak
leave stumps when they are cut down,
so the holy seed will be the stump in the land."
