I just read an article by Roseann Dennery on Relevant Magazine's website: Haiti: 18 Months Later. She described the still tragic living conditions in Haiti, especially that of orphaned children. According to her statistics, there were 440,000 orphan children before the earthquake disaster in January, 2010. Since then, the orphan rate has only skyrocketed.
Roseann describes the sadness and epic tragedy orphans are plagued with; their parents either do not have the means to provide for them -- physically or emotionally -- or they simply cannot cope with the responsibility of child rearing and therefore discharge the child to cramped orphanage.
Although there are many orphanages in Haiti, there are not enough supplies to go around. Some orphanages, as Roseann explained, receive 5-10 phone calls or drop-ins a week from parents begging them to take their child/children.
So what does this mean for us Christians here in the US? James 1:27 clearly lays it out: "Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world."
So how do we apply that to our daily lives? How can we make a difference in the incredible disaster of Haiti?
God moves uniquely in each of our hearts when He calls us to take action. For some of us, it may be connecting with orphanages in Haiti and doing what you need to make resources available to them -- whether through a local Church, a giving business, or a partnering organization. For others, it may be taking a trip to Haiti and assisting where needed. For some still, it may be spreading the Truth about the Haitian people's needs and continuing struggle to survive, and making efforts to make teams to further raise funds for resources. There are so many many avenues and choices we can make or act on to make an impact and difference in Haiti.
Now it's just time to move.
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