Giving to Haiti…trusted sites.

This came through on email today from the Purperos and it was so great I wanted to make sure we got it up on the blog too. Thanks for putting this together guys! ~ Megan

As I read a blog on Samaritan’s Purse’s web-site about the relief efforts, I saw great beauty admidst the destruction.  Victims were learning about God’s love and saving power of Jesus Christ and were accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  What an awesome thing to see when people are in a state of destruction.  If you are feeling moved to help with Haitian Relief, there are many places to consider giving to.  All relief organizations are to be comended for their hard work.  However, Christian relief organizations provide the best relief to everyone they help, sharing the Good News and helping people come to faith as the heal wounds, help find shelter and distribute food.  Below is a list of some of those Christian Relief Organizations I found through crosswalk.com, which is a trusted sight.  If you do donate anywhere, please be mindful that the sight is a trusted source as there are many scam sights out there to.  If you are not feeling moved to give that is okay too, there are many other ways to help, like prayer.  Also there are a lot of inspirational stories and prayer requests that are worth reading on these sights too.  May God bless you!

Samaritans Purse

Cross International

Christian Relief Ministries

Here are some more places to donate with LCMS connnections:

Thrivant Financial for Lutherans: Million Dollar Challenge
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans will add a maximum of $250 per member donation up to a total of 1 million dollars when our members donate to one of the following:
·Lutheran World Relief.
·ELCA Disaster Response.
·LCMS World Relief/Human Care.
·WELS Committee on Relief.

Lutheran World Relief -See Thrivant Fund Match above
Go to their website www.lwr.org
ckick on “Haiti Earthquake”
click on “click here to contribute now” OR mail your donation to: Lutheran World Relief – Haiti Earthquake/ P.O. Box 17061/ Baltimore, MD 21298-9832

Lutheran World Relief (LWR) has committed an initial $1,000,000 to the relief effort, and we will reevaluate that commitment as new reports emerge. Lutheran World Relief s currently planning a two-phase relief and recovery response through our partners on the ground in Haiti. LWR is also responding through the Action by Churches Together (ACT) alliance to support immediate relief efforts of food, water, medicine and shelter.

Salvation Army (Donate online by clicking the link)
Donate by texting the word ‘Haiti’ to 52000 will make a $10 donation, added on to your cell phone credit card bill.
OR call 1-800-SAL-ARMY (725-2769) to donate by phone.

A Hope for Haiti
by Katherine Britton, Crosswalk.com News & Culture Editor

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” - Matthew 25:40

What is your first reaction to tragedy on the TV?

Fear?

Concern?

Shock?

How about your second reaction to tragedy on TV: Sadness? Turning away? Thankfulness that it’s not you?

Maybe even that learned apathy?

When those familiar images of death and destruction flash across the TV, I find my own self-centeredness blocking the picture. We live in a society that has brought close the deaths of those far away, while the LCD screen shields us from the pain behind the images. I want to know what faces those who are hurting, but on my own terms. I want to get back to whatever movie I rented from Netflix soon enough.

One of the most telling reactions to Haiti’s devastation came to me over the radio, when a reporter was trying to describe the scene before his eyes. This veteran journalist was watching a little girl whose lips were shivering from cold and trauma. Every other moment he would stop to take a deep breath and steady himself before going on. Finally, however, the sight before him was too much, and the reporter’s voice broke as he cut the interview short.

It’s so much easier to debate Haiti’s “curse” than it is to face thousands of hurting faces. To say the homeless guy on the corner will spend the $5 on drugs and alcohol than to acknowledge that he has no place to sleep tonight. To distract ourselves into self-absorption again.

Jesus’ own example encourages us to weep with those who weep, even though we know something better is on the other side (John 11:35). Part of redemption comes from acknowledging that “all creation groans” until Christ’s return (Romans 8:22). And isn’t part of denying ourselves looking to our brothers and sisters in need? The faces of Haiti show us who and where we could be but for God’s mysterious grace. That’s a grace that should humble us deeply, and shake us out of our distraction.

Intersecting Faith & Life: I don’t know how God is calling you to respond to last week’s earthquake in Haiti. Maybe it’s through giving, maybe through prayer, maybe through a long-term sponsorship of a child, maybe in weeping for a fellow human being. But I do know the mandate of “doing for the least of these” means I’m not allowed to insulate myself against human suffering. Join me this week in praying, supporting, and weeping for our brothers and sisters in Haiti. And let’s be ready to rejoice with them at the promise of resurrection.

Thank you again to Vince and Betsy for pulling all of this together. Please continue to keep the people of Haiti, and those around the world who are effected by this in your prayers.

Is God Mad At Haiti?

Hey Everyone! I just got this blog link in my email from a friend of mine and I thought it would pass it along. It does a great job of addressing the resent comments made by Pat Robertson and how Christians are called to respond in times of trial.

Is God Mad at Haiti? By: David Burchett (Click the link to see the original posting)

I am blessed by the incredible response by churches and Christian ministries across America to the suffering souls in Haiti. But sadly a big part of the media coverage is focusing on some remarks by television commentator Pat Robertson. Mr. Robertson speculated on why Haiti has suffered so much over the years. He believes that the country sold their soul to gain freedom from the French and that their nation is cursed because of that pact with the devil.

I will not resort to the kind of comments I am reading elsewhere about Pat Robertson. I do think his timing was terrible. Our entire focus as followers of Christ should be aid and prayer for our brothers and sisters in that country. To be fair, Robertson said that he prayed that out of this disaster a spiritual renewal would take place in Haiti. Still, I wonder how anyone can say definitively why suffering takes place.

The Old Testament offers an interesting story about a place that was more degenerate than any place in ancient history. But God was willing to show compassion even to a city as overwhelmingly wicked as Sodom.

“For the sake of only ten, I won’t destroy the city.”  (Genesis 18, The Message)

I don’t know if Haiti can be mentioned in the same breath as Sodom and Gomorrah. And how about the prophet Jonah? He wanted judgment on Ninevah and ran away instead of taking the message of repentance and redemption to a city that he wanted judged. Jonah was ticked off that his personal revenge might be thwarted.

I knew you were sheer grace and mercy, not easily angered, rich in love, and ready at the drop of a hat to turn your plans of punishment into a program of forgiveness!  (Jonah 4, The Message)

So here is my unsought advice to all of us. Get out of the prophet business. In the Old Testament the prophets had a high standard.

“But any prophet who fakes it, who claims to speak in my name something I haven’t commanded him to say, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die.”  (Deut 18, The Message)

Now that is a strong deterrent to shooting from the hip. You could not follow up a false prophecy with a big smile and a proclamation of “just kidding”!

Here is my concern when comments like this attract media attention. Pat Robertson becomes the face of Christianity to many people. I certainly hope he did not mean to have that happen. When I try to use my meager skills to point people toward Jesus things like this come up. What about that Pat Robertson guy? Do you believe the things that he says? Is that the God you are representing? Do you think God is punishing Haiti? My answer is that I simply don’t know and I don’t think Pat Robertson does either.

I don’t have a big agenda. I want to introduce people to Jesus. Trying to assign blame for a natural disaster does not help me model the saving grace of the Lord Jesus to people who are desperate for hope.

Unfortunately in our soundbite news cycle high profile “spokesmen” become the face of Christianity. I want the face of Christianity to be Jesus. And I want His followers to be the humble hands and feet of God to love, heal and restore the aching souls in Haiti.

Dave Burchett is an Emmy Award winning television sports director, author, and Christian speaker. He is the author of When Bad Christians Happen to Good Peopleand Bring’em Back Alive: A Healing Plan for those Wounded by the Church. You can reply by linking through daveburchett.com.