Windows into Haiti have allowed us to see how sheltered and privileged we are. Hopefully, they have also opened our hearts to being God’s hands and feet - to use our abundance to help those in need. Sometimes God catches our attention with one thing only to use that to open our heart to something else...
For many of us, God has used the earthquake in Haiti to open our eyes to the immense needs of others in this world. From the need for food and shelter to the harsh reality of children who are now orphans trying to find a way to live. Life is extremely difficult for many – and these windows into Haiti have allowed us to see how sheltered and privileged we are. Hopefully, they have also opened our hearts to being God’s hands and feet - to use our abundance to help those in need.
On February 20, we will be preparing 50,000 meals for Haiti. That’s a lot of food, a lot of people and a lot of money. Our first response was, “We can’t afford to do that. Our contributions at the end of January are $12,500 below budget – how can we come up with that and another $12,500 for the Haitians?” To be honest, we don’t know how we’re going to come up with it. At the same time, we feel strongly that this is exactly what we’re called to do as a church – to love our neighbor as our self (it is likely we all had food to eat today). That is, after all declared the second greatest command by Jesus in Matthew 22:39. And in James 1:27 we’re charged as a church to care for the orphans and the widows – a charge that we want to be serious about. We want to focus on obedience and let God take care of the financial details.
Sometimes God catches our attention with one thing only to use that to open our heart to something else. God has used the crisis in Haiti to open the hearts of at least 20 families in our church to the orphan crisis around the world. These families have committed to pray and consider ways that they could sacrifice of their own resources, time and energy to provide love – and maybe even a home – for orphans around the world. In the process, God is percolating some very interesting opportunities.
Please continue to join us in prayer as we seek ways to live out the commands of our Savior and to focus our energy on things that have eternal impact. Join us as we pray for opportunities to help those in Haiti – be it the orphans, the widows, the hungry, or all of the above. If you sense God opening your heart to help in a greater way, please talk with one of us – we’d love to plug you into the planning and prayer process of seeking God’s guidance.
Your Elder Team,
Al Gonnerman, Mario Arindaeng, Tim Badal, Scott Capp, Keith Duff, Jon Pilkington
