Our congregational email on Praying for & Helping Haiti… 01-14-10
Good morning, folks…
It’s been a horrific few days watching the images and scenes coming from the devastated streets and lives of our neighbors in Haiti. Time and time again we’ve seen the prayers being lifted for the suffering in Haiti and we’ve lifted our own. Many efforts have begun to get aid to the people who need it most, and to get it to them in ways that will be effective and handled with the greatest care and stewardship. I wanted to drop a note today to share a few thoughts on praying for Haiti and an opportunity to help with the needs brought by this disaster.
First, I did not know until this week that our own Luke Campbell has a sister (Deborah Baker) living outside of Port Au Prince, living and working with her husband (Kyrk Baker) and children, for Baptist Haiti Mission, assisting churches and operating hospitals and school programs. They are weathering the storm as best as possible with no loses of life within their family, but now the huge stresses of being first responders and completely overwhelmed. Fortunately, they have medical facilities still standing and are receiving people coming from the city. They have a blog about their life and work in Haiti, and I’m listing it along with a link to Baptist Haiti Mission:
http://www.ourlifeinhaiti.blogspot.com/
http://www.bhm.org/bhm/index.php
With the myriad of ways offered to us to contribute and send aid as individuals to the hurting people of Haiti, I was glad to know that we have a connection with people there working and serving in such an immediate way. We will have a prayer station set up this Sunday to offer not only prayers but also contributions as a church family that will be sent to help the Bakers as they respond to the crisis as God’s hands and feet in the midst of such pain.
Praying for the People of Haiti…
It’s going to be a given that we are offering prayers for the hurting souls of this devastation. Some of the poorest and most disenfranchised people are suffering through a situation that no one is ever prepared to face. So, we pray for the people of Haiti, for the hurting and the for the dead. Your prayers are so important in the coming days as victims and responders deal with the loss and pain they face. I’m including a link to Gratefulness.org where you can light a virtual candle in prayer for Haiti. We also used to have the “Prayer Lava Lamp” set up in our Sanctuary, though it’s been a while. If you’d like to open it and have it on your desktop to remind you and facilitate prayers, I’m linking it in as well.
http://www.gratefulness.org/
http://www.emergingchurch.info/prayer/lamp.html
Praying for the First Responders…
I’d also like to ask you to pray for the first responders, the folks like Luke’s family and many other aid workers, working for different types of church missions and for the many governmental agencies, who are on the ground in the midst of the situation. Some of them have lost a lot in the last couple of days, and still will be looked to for help. I’ve also been touched by the stories of Haitians tearing through rubble with bare hands to affect rescues and recoveries of people trapped in collapsed buildings or giving what medical and rescue assistance they could, even with no training. We pray for the people who are saving and serving their neighbors, right now. They will have a long road of healing of their own. There’s a good list of prayer points on the National Prayer Center’s website, and I’m linking it in (shortened by Tiny URL).
http://tiny.cc/haiti812
And we pray for the US Military and US Rescue Personnel…
I’m including a link about our mobilization of military medical personnel, supplies and ships, and many other responders who are on their way to Haiti to serve. These folks will face some very harrowing days ahead, and they need our prayers of support. I am always so proud when our military’s medical fleet is prepped and sent to respond to disasters around the globe, providing supplies, help and security.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34832613/ns/world_news-haiti_earthquake/
So, I hope to see you on Sunday. I know that there are many ways to send aid and support to the people of Haiti, and I would never expect you to neglect the other connections you might have to directly serve with friends and family who are there helping in the aftermath. However, I’d also ask you to think about the amount which you would be able to bring on Sunday to help with the needed supplies and materials for helping stabilize and heal our hurting neighbors in Haiti. We’ll pray and do what we can as a church family to be the neighbors they need in us, now. And I’d invite you in your prayers to even consider what the future may hold for our church family as global neighbors with Haiti. Just a few weeks ago I shared with you that I’ve had it on my heart to find the way in which we might engage the world this year in missions, and from our previous support of Brooke in Haiti, to the connections we find developing now, I wonder if we’re not being asked to consider a longer-term commitment of prayer and service to the people of Haiti? Let’s lift that question to God as well. Thanks.
With All Peace,
Todd Thomas
Church in Bethesda
toddthomas.net 