Heartcry for Haiti

Just like the rest of you, I have been seeing reports on the horrific earthquake that hit the country of Haiti last week. Images of a child in the arms of a rescue worker, covered with dust; rescue workers sitting on top of the debris with their head in their hands; people lying on the ground in make-shift hospitals; and communities that are now nothing more than piles of rubble. These kinds of images are so far beyond our comfort zone; so far beyond anything we've ever experienced; so far beyond anything we could ever imagine that we really don't grasp what's happening. We can turn our TVs off, close our newspapers or switch to something else on the internet. We can turn it off. It's unpleasant, we can't relate...we don't want to.

 My pastor and his wife have become pretty good friends to my husband and I. They have been very supportive of my pursuit of ministry and were right there when I broke my knee cap. My pastor's wife and I have become quite the email buddies and have been encouraging one another through some medical stuff we've each had to go through. These sweet people have eight kids, two of which were adopted from Haiti. Yesterday, the pain of the events of the past week became real for me...

During our Sunday morning service, Pastor John shared his concerns about the Haitian tragedy and how we could help with donations and prayer. In the midst of sharing, he asked three members of our congregation to stand. These three children were all adopted from Haiti, two of which were his own. As he looked at these sweet faces looking up at him, he began to share how his one daughter was from Port-au-Prince...then the grief gripped him so tightly he couldn't speak. The pain in his eyes, the sorrow in his heart was so apparent there was no denying the horror of this tragedy. He wept and fought hard to speak the words, "Had we not adopted her and brought her here, she would be there."

As I listened to him speak, I heard the unspoken words, "PLEASE HELP THEM!!" I heard the desparation. I heard the deep, deep sorrow. I heard, "We've got to do something!!" I heard a father heartbroken for what could have been and what was. I heard a father...I heard two fathers. I heard the father of 2 sweet Haitian girls and I heard our Heavenly Father. Both were heartbroken; both were merciful; both were filled with compassion.

PLEASE HELP THEM!!