Written by Kristin Larmore, Web Editor
A week ago today, a massive 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti.
Ninety percent of the buildings in Leogane, Haiti have collapsed.
In that same area, about 100 children are buried beneath the rubble of a school.
Thousands have been claimed missing, and their families are desperately searching for any sign they might still be alive.
The quake claimed tens of thousands of lives.
Families are being torn apart. Mothers are losing their children, husbands losing their wives…every minute. The devastation is so far-reaching that news stations can’t even cover it all.
(Photo by CNN.com)
With a place already so poor and unfortunate as Haiti, can you imagine such a disaster striking? Imagine what this type of natural disaster would do to you and your friends in your own town. And now imagine what it must be like for those men, women and children experiencing it in Haiti. They have no money, no resources to pick up and keep going, to rebuild a life. Everything they own has been destroyed…and if they’re injured, where is the money coming from to mend their wounds? We need to help.
Interested in donating? Click here.
Or, donate $5 to the Red Cross by texting “HAITI” to 90999, and the charge will simply go on your phone bill. Gaia Online is matching Red Cross donations up to $10,000, so take advantage of this, as well. Go to the Red Cross, click “Donate Now” and select “Haiti Relief and Development.” Type “Gaia Online” where it says “Company/Organization Name.” That’s all it takes for your donation to be matched.
(Photo by CNN.com)
If you can’t help them monetarily, pray. Pray for lives lost, lives saved…that the people of Haiti can find peace again and come back from this tragedy. It’s going to take time, it’s going to take money, it’s going to take faith. But we as a country, as one united front, can change their circumstances.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve only thought of me- what I want, what I need, how I feel. But sometimes what we’re going through is only a tiny fraction of what someone else has to experience every day of their lives. When I stop everything to help someone else, it makes me feel better knowing my talents are being put to good use and I’m making another’s day easier. Can you relate to this?
Really, though- stop everything.Turn off the Ipod, the cell phone, the TV, the radio and listen to where God is calling you to be. Sit in the silence and pray for those who don’t have half of what you do. Discover where He wants you to use your time, talent and treasure for the world.
Any insight into this? Tell us how YOU plan to help! Send us prayer comments or encouraging words.
Tags: donate to Haiti, Gaia Online, Haiti disaster, Haiti earthquake, Haiti Relief and Development, Leogane Haiti, Red Cross, UNICEF
I am not sure what God wants me to do. He knows it is important to me find out. I wish I could go over there and help, but I can not. I do not have any money to give, but I do have the ability to pray and to write. God can do miracles. He knows what is in my heart, even when I am lost for words. Today I have been lost for when ever since I found out that they had another earthquake or if you want to call it an after shock go ahead – - it is still upsetting. When I found out what happened this morning, all I could say was “God,no. please.” There is so much I would like to pray. For God to be with the people over there that have lost someone and are hurt. I guess really to be with everyone that is over there – - the people in Haiti and the the people that are trying to help out. Get doctors over there, medicine, food, water and anything else that they need. Let there be no more after shocks. I have been listening to the news for hours, and I even heard that they cutting people’s limbs off (that need to be done) with no pain medicine. I can not image what these people are going through. I have a request. Pray a long with me. God will be listening.
This event has been made so beautiful by God. This brokenness is what brings us together. The broken road is often the road leading to God’s will for the entire world. I can’t tell you how many relief efforts have sprung up overnight. God is calling for us all to work together. It’s hard to imagine God would do this to the poorest nation in the western hemisphere but he couldn’t have planned it more perfectly in my opinion. The crying eyes, the ill and injured meets loving hearts of God who are willing to give them that physical love through God. Because it’s when you’ve lost it all it’s sometimes hardest to find God. But with hearts like ours, I feel Haiti can find that. Especially since their main religion is Voodoo. It’s weird too because I have been seriously praying for the world to find God. Sometimes catastrophe is God’s way of shaking someone alive, to be alive in Him.