A Prayer For Haiti - Part 1

A PRAYER FOR HAITI - Dan Russell, founder of the SoulFest (a 3 part series)

SoulFest Invites you to join Mission Of Hope:

We've all heard about the devastation in Haiti. Report after report; rescues, chaos, cries for help, for medicine, for clean water, for funds and this isn't going to stop. The ripple effect of such a disaster will go and on, but first things first. The relief efforts are finally getting traction and this is the beginning.

Many of you have already responded, some of you have made financial donations, some of you have gathered supplies and clothing. This is great, but not enough. You and I are going to be hit with wave after wave of pleas for help. Right now the country of Haiti is worse than you and I imagine or any TV image convey.

The point of this email to you is to ask for further help. Your action reflects your prayers. It's vital that you and I don't stop praying and that we don't stop acting/responding. We cannot grow deaf to these cries. We must not turn a blind eye or build a rationalization for not responding. At SoulFest each year we talk about Matthew 25, sometimes with frightening conviction. In this case ... I am naked, thirsty, buried under concrete, starving, my bones broken, my lungs full of dust, everything I own gone, my hope drained, I can't find my daughter, my mother, my husband, my son, I haven't eaten in days, my mind is broken....... I called out for you and you didn't answer, I'm calling again now, please take my hand and lift me from this nightmare.

I've given money, clothing, supplies and have spent time helping to organize relief, but as I think about it, I've slowed, I've stopped, I've growing deaf. The clutter of my own day to day produces a white noise that can take me away from what I'm called to do. As I pulled into Starbucks for a $3 coffee, talking on my phone about yesterday's election, about football this Sunday, I'm hit with this wave and I realize I let go of the hand that I was holding in Haiti. I got a text from a friend about seeing a movie this weekend and before I responded I thought about the American Red Cross Haiti Relief fund raising effort via text message. Text message "HAITI" (90999) to donate $10 to the American Red Cross relief effort in Haiti. I hit it again, only my 2nd time, but when I think about the itunes and apps I've bought on this same phone, I am not going to let go of this hand. I do not want to walk away from the cries of Jesus in the broken place of Haiti.

Maybe you're thinking something similar to me. We so easily grow deaf to the cries for help. These cries exist in our homes, families, our neighborhoods and beyond and right now, HAITI needs you and I to not let go. In this email we're asking for you to help further, to help again, to sacrifice something you have (a meal, a coffee, a date this weekend) and join us in supporting a specific relief effort in Grand-Goave Haiti, called The Mission Of Hope.

(more to follow on the SoulFest Blog tomorrow)