Haiti

Marthe lives there. She's almost 14 years old, and I've been her sponsor through Compassion International since she was 5. My $38 a month gives her clothing, a Christian community and mentors who show her the love of Jesus, and education designed to release her from poverty. Her school and community are located 3 km from Port-au-Prince.

It's Jean-Luc's home. I'm not sure where he is now, but he was one of my good friends in seminary. He wanted to go back to Haiti to minister there, to make his country better. I wonder where he is now.

The Reverend Dr. Sam Dixon, the top official of the United Methodist Committee on Relief and a member of the North Carolina annual conference, died there after the earthquake. He was trapped with two other United Methodist ministers in the Hotel Montana, and two other aid workers (at least one of whom was also United Methodist). The five had gone to the hotel to discuss improving medical missions in the nation. Those with Rev. Dr. Dixon were pulled from the rubble alive. The Reverend Clinton Rabb was rescued 55 hours after the earthquake and is in critical condition now in a Miami hospital. The Reverend James Gulley is back in the U.S., too.

Mrs. Jean Arnwine died in the earthquake, there, too. She was 49 years old and one one of three United Methodist mission teams in the country.

Let us pray for the families of all these individuals, as we pray for them by name. And let us lift the hundreds of thousands of others affected, even though we don't know their names. Because each of them is a beloved child of God.

And, though the earth may shake, there is something I do know for sure: the love and grace of God is unshakeable. They never move, except to reach those who suffer. And I know that Jesus cries with those who cry, and that the Holy Spirit of power and healing fills all who open themselves to it.

Let us pray that the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, will indeed work powerfully, yet again, to bring life out of death, order out of chaos, and hope out of hopelessness.

May God use us to do just that.
Please visit UMCOR's website to learn more.