Haiti was hit with a 7.0 earthquake on Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 04:53:10pm and since then has been plagued with aftershocks, the worst of which happened this morning and measured 6.1 in magnitude. The official death count is at 70,000 and is still rapidly rising. Those severely injured, homeless, and seriously affected number in the millions. Millions. Those numbers are not just news facts; they are children, mothers, fathers, grandparents, infants and adults who are leaving behind broken families and aching hearts. We feel deep pain and loss when we lose only one family member. Can you imagine what it feels like to have lost your whole family? your home? you’re only source of work or income in a country already struggling to care for its children?
I don’t have any great thoughts or enlightenment born out of this horrific event. My only thought is toward the individual people who are lost among the numbers in our thoughts and hearts. We pray for such selfish things throughout our days. We pray that we will make it through the traffic and not be late. We pray for good grades and easy workdays. We pray for good weather so that our vacations will be perfect. Am I saying that anything is wrong with this? No. However, while you are praying this morning, I would ask you to pray for Haiti. Pray for the little girls who will never find their mothers. Pray for the fathers who will bury their sons. Pray for the mourning who will never know the fate of their loved ones who are buried in mass graves without ever being identified.
Maybe we can’t fly to Haiti and help give aid or pledge a million dollars toward the Red Cross but can you offer your prayers? Can you afford to donate a few quiet minutes of your day to ask God to comfort and protect the survivors? Let’s do more than watch the news and shake our heads at the pictures and stories. Give $10 if you can but more than that, develop a softer heart towards those hurting people and maybe even people around you who you have been through their own private struggles. I know that whatever I face today is going to seem a lot more insignificant when compared to this tragedy and I thank God that all of my loved ones are safe today.
But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 1 John 3:17
Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2
