My Heart Aches

Today, my heart aches for a place called Haiti. For those of you who don't know, Haiti is a short flight from Miami and is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. At first Haiti was a place I heard of because I knew of some people who were in the adoption process there. Last fall, I was able to visit Haiti and experience the extreme poverty first hand. I was able to visit compassion projects there, many of which had never had visitors before. Haiti is a dark place. Dark because of the voodoo that many have chosen to believe in. Dark from the extreme poverty and lack of hope you see at every corner. Dark because of the lack of education and professional opportunities. And yet, among the darkness, I did see light. Light in the eyes of children at Compassion International projects. Children who were learning to read and teaching their parents to do the same. Children who were learning how to recultivae their land. Children who are the hope for this poor country. This generation, they are the ones who I believed could make a difference and change the country of Haiti. Then yesterday happened. Yesterday Haiti was hit by a terrible earthquake measuring 7+. As if this country were not devastated enough. My heart breaks for the people of Haiti. It breaks for the children I met. It breaks to think that I may never know if a little boy named Mackenzie, who I was able to hold for a day and meet his family, is okay or not. It breaks my heart for the Compassion leaders who are giving their lives to try and rescue the lives of young children from poverty in Jesus' name. It makes me ask, Why? Why did this have to happen, and happen to these people? People whose sole purpose is just trying to figure out how to survive, and now have to somehow find a way to rebuild a country that was on unsteady ground already. Why?

And today, in my reading in Genesis 22 it says, "The Lord will provide." That is what Abraham named the place where God had asked him to sacrifice Isaac and the Lord provided a sacrifice because of Abraham's obedience. So, I pray that the Lord will provide in Haiti too. I pray that he will raise up leaders who will become heroes in their country. I pray that he will provide people like you and me who will give to causes that will provide relief to this struggling country in need. I pray that God will raise up people to pray. To pray for the people and children of Haiti. To pray that those small glimmers of light in the eyes of the children of Haiti are not extinguished, but grow brighter even in the midst of this tragedy. I pray and believe that as the Lord provided a confused Abraham with a sacrifice and as he provided all of us unworthy sinners with the sacrifice of his son, He will also provide peace and healing to this hurting country. Please join in praying with me.

Today's reading: Genesis 20-23

"And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness." Genesis 15:6

If you would like to donate to a cause I support and believe in, Compassion International, please visit the following link:

https://www.compassion.com/contribution/giving/disasterrelief.htm?referer=105910

This disaster relief fund will help provide food and clean water, temporary shelter, basic sanitation and personal hygiene items, medical attention and preventative health care, and family reunification or counseling. I know that Compassion will use these funds to meet the greatest of needs. Please give as God leads you and give freely. Every little bit helps. Also, join me in including this link as a part of your facebook, twitter, or blog updates to help spread the word. We can all have a part in being the hands and feet of God and helping the country of Haiti during this time of great tragedy.

As I sidenote, Brad & I have the great blessing of sponsoring a young boy named Bens through Compassion whose home is in Haiti, thankfully, to our knowledge, he is okay as he lives in the northernmost coastal area. To learn more about Haiti and see some of the footage we took on our trip last fall, you can visit this link: http://www.vimeo.com/8716888