When Disaster Strikes ...

A beautiful place:

God cries, too.

According to a report from NPR:

"The tiny bodies of children lay in piles next to the ruins of their collapsed school. People with faces covered by white dust and the blood of open wounds roamed the streets. Frantic doctors wrapped heads and stitched up sliced limbs in a hotel parking lot. The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, still struggling to recover from the relentless strikes of four catastrophic storms in 2008, was a picture of heartbreaking devastation Wednesday after a magnitude-7 earthquake."

     Why does it seem that Haiti cannot get a break? My heart breaks for the suffering of the people of Haiti who have had more than their share of tragedies. Still, for someone to say that God somehow designs these tragedies to punish people is more than cruel. It is wrong. More than a half million people and even more may have suffered because of the January 12, 2010 earthquake that rocked this small country. There are many ways to help. My hope is that you will take the time and send whatever you can. There are many places to give included in this blog. I'm only asking that you do. Here are a few:

What you can do:
• Donating cash to established relief organizations is the best way to help because it allows professionals to get exactly what they need and does not use up scarce resources such as transportation, staff time or warehouse space.

Organizations accepting donations:
• InterAction has a list of agencies responding and how to donate to them. Find it here: www.interaction.org/crisis-list/earthquake-haiti

• To donate $10 to the American Red Cross,
text Haiti to 90999. The amount will be added to your next phone bill.
The organization is also accepting donations through its International Response Fund at www.redcross.org or (800) RED-CROSS.

• To donate $5 to Wyclef Jean’s Haitian Yele charity, text 501501. The money will be added to your next phone bill.

• To find out how to help the International Rescue Committee, visit www.theIRC.org or call toll free, (877) REFUGEE.

• To donate through Oxfam’s emergency appeal, visit www.oxfam.org.uk

Don't politicize. Don't judge. Simply give. Today.