life

“If you mistake for your own merits what are really God’s gifts to you through nature, and if you are contented with simply being nice, you are still a rebel: and all those gifts will only make your fall more terrible, your corruption more complicated, your bad example more disastrous.  The Devil was an archangel once; his natural gifts were as far above yours as yours are above those of a chimpanzee.”

“God became man to turn creatures into sons: not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man.”

CS Lewis, Mere Christianity

For Aaron Ivey (song writer and pastor of worship at Austin Stone Community Church in Austin, Texas), Haiti’s earthquake hit closer to home than any other disaster. Amos, the Ivey’s four-year-old adopted son, was in Haiti when the earthquake hit. He is the fourth child of the Ivey’s and the second child adopted from Haiti. By God’s amazing grace and sovereign hand, Amos is safe. He now is forced to sleep outside along with thousands of others whose homes have been destroyed. On his blog, Aaron Ivey expresses the difficulty of being a father away from his son in a disastrous time. Read his blog and pray for the people of Haiti today. Pray that the Great Comforter would be quick to rescue his people. Come Lord Jesus, come!

For those who do not know, the Caribbean nation of Haiti was impacted by the biggest recorded earthquake in Haiti in 200 years on Tuesday – 7.0 on the richter scale – and several aftershocks measuring upwards of 5.0 each.  Secretary of State Clinton is estimating upwards of 50,000 lives lost, and millions who are displaced from their homes.  International aid response has been swift, with opportunities to donate to different aid organizations through text messages.
- Donate $10 to the Red Cross disaster relief effort by texting “Haiti” to 90999.
- Donate $5 to the Yele foundation for disaster relief by texting “Yele” to 501501.
- Can also donate to Compassion, as well as other relief organizations.
- Water Missions Intl – text “WMI” to 85944 to give $10 to help give water.

“As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?”  And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray.  For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.  And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.  See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.  All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.”

Matthew 24:3-8 (ESV)

As Christians, we should not be surprised when disasters take place in our world.  We know, through God’s word, that it is going to get worse on this planet before it gets better.  However, when disasters do occur, they remind us of our own mortality; they remind us what is important; they remind us that natural disasters and death happen no matter where you live.  We have as much control over our own mortality as we have over earthquakes, and the faster we acknowledge that lack of control, the more God can use us for His purposes.

Pray for the people of Haiti.  Put yourself into their shoes; would you be able to glorify God if you were in Haiti right now?  If you had just lost your family for – what seemed like – no good reason?

Some statistics about Haiti (via Compassion):
- Capital city – Port-au-Prince
- Population of almost 9 million
- A little over half the population is considered literate
- A little over half the population uses improved drinking water
- Population using adequate sanitation facilities – 57% urban; 14% rural
- About 80 children of 1,000 die before the age of 5. Compared to 8/1,000 for the U.S.
- About 54% of the population lives on less than $1 per day

Tyler