Dear Friends,
The reason I am writing is to bring you an urgent request to pray for Haiti.
You may know that our church has a missions partnership with the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. We have walked through the narrow, open-sewage streets of Haitian villages in the DR. We have held the hands of beautiful little Haitian children. Some months ago, after a gathering of missionaries from several nations — worshiping together in a Haitian church (in the DR) — I joined a dance line of little Haitian kids where we danced, sang and gave praise to our God.
I have stood with some of our church leaders at the Border between the two nations. UN Security forces guarded the gates. We stood on a bridge over the river that marks the national boundary and watched as children played, women did laundry and people bathed — all in the same dirty river. Our hearts were broken.
Tonight I write to you because Haiti has been struck by a massive earthquake. I was brought to tears as I imagined innocent little ones who have lost their homes and in some cases their families. In other cases, no doubt it is the little ones themselves who are trapped and hanging on for their lives tonight.
In the midst of the physical chaos of the moment, I recalled how dark Haiti is spiritually. No doubt their place as the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere is partly attributed to their rampant practice of voodoo, witchcraft and all kinds of spiritism.
Would you pray tonight for Haiti? I am drawn to the following verses…
16 The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined."
17 From then on Jesus began to preach, "Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near."
Matthew 4:16-17 (New Living Translation)
We will seek every way we can to help. Our Dominican family will help us know the practical things as they help step into the spiritual needs as much as possible.
Please, tonight, just pray.
God bless you!
Sam
3 comments:
I have cried and prayed a lot over the past 24 hours. It's so very heart breaking and so hard to see God in all of it. But I take great comfort in knowing that He was there- He picked up and carried those who lost their lives. He carried them home. And while the devastation is awful, impossible, huge... He is there. I won't pretend to know what His plan is or try to give anyone false hope or try to blow sunshine or whatever. But I do trust in God and I pray that He comforts those who are suffering and lost in these very hard days, weeks, and months ahead.
Hatians (mostly immigrants and first-generation) are by far the biggest ethnic group at my school. I'm glad that most of them came to school today. They showed all the effects of a sleepless night, and before school there were lots of tears and hugging. But coming to school gives them something to distract them as they wait for news. I'm glad to be able to at least help out by giving them games and work to keep their minds busy.
Liz, it's so good to hear from you over this. Thank you for sharing!
Becki, I am including your students in my thoughts and prayers. I can only imagine their fears. I spent much of last night thinking and dreaming about the situation down there. As so often happens, the poor are hurt the worst. The children will be marked by this for the rest of their lives.
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