Haiti on my heart

January 12, 2010 will forever stick in my mind. I was at Starbucks in a meeting when I received a text saying that Haiti had an earthquake and that first reports are bad. My heart sank, immediately I tried to contact my friends and ministry partners in Haiti, but it was no use, the phone connection was not the best to begin with and would be down as expected in an earthquake. Still I continued to try, and try, for the next few days, and then week. Still no answer. Finally I receive word that my dear friends, and ministry partners had all been accounted for. My heart took a sigh of relief for a moment, and then the images of what had occurred from the earthquake began to surface. Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and it's now almost 7 months after the devastating earthquake that killed over 230,000 people. As I watched the evening news the past couple of days I am reminded that we have such a short memory as a society, our most pressing issue at the moment is the oil in the gulf, which is bad, but really? Yes I understand that lots of money was lost, and billions of dollars are being spent in clean up which is needed. But I have a question. Where was that BILLIONS of dollars when people needed it? At what point did we as a society place the value of human life below an animal, and at what point did we just stop caring about others?
I'm glad that Haiti was brought to the eyes of the world, I'm sad at how it happened, but know that good can come of this. However, a couple of charity events are not enough, sending a couple of bucks from my cell phone is not enough, sending a box of medical supplies is not enough, BUT it is a start. My heart grieved in February of this year when I was able to see the devastation first hand. The images have never left my mind, and I'm not really sure they ever will. The sights, wounded, sounds, and smells will be etched in my mind for the rest of my life. But one thing I do know, even if you have never been to Haiti, to know that a child is now with out any family.. that there are countless people hungry tonight.. there are countless people who have been made homeless.. or who are unable to sleep inside a home or building because of the fear they have in their hearts. When I think of these people, and all they have experienced in the last few months my heart grieves. And while all this is happening, we go on with our lives, forgetting a reality that is there, but is not before our eyes.. So I ask you this, What will you do? From my first visit to Haiti in 2004, I knew God was wanting to use us to impact the beautiful country, I just was not sure of how. There is a quote that I once heard that forever challenged me, "now that I have seen, I am responsible". The writer of the book of James says, "Faith without deeds is dead". So yes, please join me in praying, but I challenge you to go beyond that with your deeds and make a lasing impact that will forever change your life, and possibly save someone else's.