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Responding to Haiti

January 15th, 2010 by Janette

The pain and destruction that pours through our news stations since this Tuesday’s 7.0 earthquake in the capital of Haiti, is incomprehensible. We can only stop and wonder, why Haiti? Why would this happen?

For me, this tragedy hit closer to home, when for a few hours we didn’t know where my Dad was. He was scheduled to arrive in Haiti at 2:30pm on Tuesday, only 2 hours before the earthquake hit. He was there on a 2 week construction missions trip, working at the Baptist Haiti Mission. Later that evening, after an anxious few hours, we heard from his team. This is what they wrote:

“It’s just after 8pm and we have arrived safe at the mission…you may have heard that there was an earthquake of 7 points on the Richter scale this afternoon….we were in our vehicle on the way out of Port aux Prince when it struck…the road lifted and people were flying through the air…as well as anything that was loose around us….we saw buildings come down…brick walls falling, the road lifted but we were spared. There are many that have died, and many more injured…Many people on the roads are screaming but many are walking and raising their hands in the air to praise God that they were spared.”

After the relief that email brought, my predominant feeling is pride – proud of my Dad, knowing his skills will be incredibly useful at this time, knowing God’s providence in bringing him there at this time, and the miracle of sparing him for a purpose.

But what of the larger questions that arise when tragedy like this strikes? How do we respond? Is God distant? Cruel? These questions are, in my opinion, some of the most difficult objections out there. They are raw and personal so the answer can not be one of theory, but one that really works. But every person, regardless of their worldview, must answer these questions and I believe the Christian worldview is the only one that brings true hope and understanding in such pain.

Tragedies like these point to the fact that our world is broken, desperately so. Even creation is groaning or in this case, shifting, in the brokenness of this world.  Evil and pain wreak havoc in our world. But that is not the end of the story. We wait for the day when God brings everything that is wrong, right and restores everything to its original goodness and glory. And that is a promise. It is sure and it will come. And while we wait, we see a God who is not removed, but has entered the suffering of our world in the person of Jesus Christ, who has experienced the mess and knows the pain. Not only that, but he took on the pain and judgement of our own sin on himself so that one day that restoration could be possible. We could know peace and freedom from all pain, because of what he suffered on our behalf.

In the meantime, his people are called to bring hope, comfort, and redemption to situations like this. We are called to be the hands and feet of Christ in a broken and lost world. We must do everything we can to alleviate suffering, bind up the wounded, comfort the grieving, bring the hope of the Gospel to those who have faced such trauma and mortality.

If you are looking for a place to get involved, check out the work of the Baptist Haiti Mission to donate.  For a more personal look at the earthquake, check out this blog from those working at that mission. There are also many other great organizations looking for help to get supplies in to Haiti.  And keep praying for the victims, their families, and all those working towards healing and restoration in this desperate country.