You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.


Deuteronomy 6:5-9

Lena's (first) mission trip to
Haiti turned into our
Adoption Adventure!
Can't wait to see what God has in store next.....
*********************************************************

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Article & Images about Hurricane Gustav

This news story can be found here

An estimated 6,300 Haitians, mostly city-dwellers from Port-au-Prince, Jacmel and Leogane, were forced from their homes by Hurricane Gustav as torrential rains pounded the deforested southern peninsula of the country on Tuesday and Wednesday.

"The population of Haiti is already suffering from extreme poverty, and soaring food prices are aggravating the situation," says Annamaria Laurini, UNICEF Representative in Haiti. "Whenever a natural disaster such as Gustav hits the region, the consequences of its impact are amplified."With nearly 45 per cent of the country's population under the age of 18, children are among those most affected by the grinding poverty, high food prices and now a substantial natural disaster striking the country.

UNICEF, WFP and their partners are working with the government to ascertain the extent of the damage and to determine what actions are required to assist those affected. While humanitarian access to most of the disaster areas has improved as weather conditions have slowly begun to return to normal, damaged roads and insecurity still impede rapid assessment to some areas.

Of special concern to Laurini is the impact the hurricane may have on schools. Only 51 per cent of girls and 48 per cent of boys of primary school age attend school in Haiti, and in a country faced with such immense challenges, education represents a key source of hope for the future.

Too many Haitian families are already being faced, this year, with a decision no family should ever have to make: to feed their children, or to send them to school. While a UNICEF initiative aims to help get children back into school in Haiti as the new school year begins, the effects of the hurricane may be disruptive.

"If schools are seriously damaged or used as temporary shelter, this could seriously delay children's return to school, which is due in about a week," says Laurini. UNICEF

I found the video that follows posted on this blog




Please join me in praying for all the people already impacted by this storm, and for the people that remain in the storm's path in the U.S.

***********************************************************************************

To have to decide between feeding your children or sending them to school?!?!

Go back and read the article again-this is what it says, word for word.


"Too many Haitian families are already being faced, this year, with a decision no family should ever have to make: to feed their children, or to send them to school. "

Let.
That.
Sink.
In.

"Too many Haitian families are already being faced, this year, with a decision no family should ever have to make: to feed their children, or to send them to school."


Did it hit you, like it hits me?!? I read quickly, and the first time I skimmed the article, I almost missed it. (and I have been to Haiti and seen the poverty first hand.)

Then it HIT ME like a ton of bricks.

Like.
A.
Ton.
Of.
Bricks.


I can't even fathom how a family deals with a situation like this. Choosing between food and education?!?! And it upsets me greatly, that only 500 miles from America, this is a decision that needs to be made. It is unacceptable.

We have to do something, anything. Is God calling you to adopt? Is God calling you to become a missionary? Or support one? Maybe God is calling you to go on a short term mission trip? Or maybe God is doing something else in you. Or........?

I'm not saying everyone has to do what I am doing, but I am saying that everyone has to do SOMETHING. Especially if we call ourselves Christians. How can we claim to follow Christ who said If we don't, how will it ever change? How will these children ever come to know the love of our great God? It is one thing to tell them God loves them. But who will show them?

The easiest thing I can think of is to sponsor a student at Three Angels Christian Academy by going here. $27 a month can make a difference in a child's life-and in the future. And make a difference in the populations of heaven and hell.

$27.00. A month. That is less than $1.00/day. I KNOW that all of us can find a way to come up with $1.00 a day. Three Angels is a good organization, run by good people, trying to make a difference. The money goes to the children, not to the administration. I have seen it.

Children are precious gifts from God and we ought to make the world a place where choosing between food, education, and medical care are not decisions parent have to make. Children are our future-and nutrition and education of children is the only way that things are ever going to change in such poverty stricken places as Haiti.

My Bible says "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." James 2:17

and

"I have cried until the tears no longer come. My heart is broken, my spirit poured out, as I see what has happened to my people. Little children and tiny babies are fainting and dying in the streets. "Mama, we want food," they cry, and then collapse in their mothers' arms. Their lives ebb away like the life of a warrior wounded in battle. " Lamentations 2:11-12

and


One day some parents brought their little children to Jesus so he could touch them and bless them, but the disciples told them not to bother him. Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I assure you, anyone who doesn't have their kind of faith will never get into the Kingdom of God." Luke 18:16-17


I want my faith to be alive, a living thing, that can be seen by what I do, not by what I say. How is your faith? Is it time for more action and less talk? Or maybe you are already doing exactly what God has called you to do. I don't know-but I want to implore you to talk to God about it-and more important-LISTEN to God. Then take action. Do something.

Ugh. My "Holy Discontent" strikes again. :-)

God is great.

6 comments:

  1. it is hard to put our minds around that. until you go and see it's difficult to either explain or understand. i love your passion for Haiti. it is so simple to give....

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Missy. My prayer is that more people will sponsor a student-it's so easy, and so little, and yet it can mean so much.

    ReplyDelete
  3. great post Lena! i can hear the passion in your voice as i read your words!!

    Student Sponsorship is something everyone can do. we can be so quick to think "oh, i can't afford that" when it comes to things like this...but there are very VERY few americans that truly could not afford $27 a month.

    i will definitely love on your boys for you!! oh how precious they are!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. oh Megan, I can hardly wait til you get to Haiti! What an adventure you are on with the hurricanes and all that. I'm so excited for you to love on my boys, and of course, all the kids at the O. I'm going into withdrawal from no new pictures for a few days. UGH!! :-)

    I'll survive. You be safe.

    ReplyDelete
  5. We are so blessed here. People don't realize that in the U.S. we almost always have options. These people do not. We are certainly lifting up prayers for the people of this country.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks, Stephanie.

    Continuing to pray for all impacted by the storms.

    Hugs to you! Soon you will be off to see and hold your precious daughter-oh I can't wait-I'm excited for you!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for interacting with me thru my blog. I love hearing from you.

Thanks again!

Lena