***

50 pallets. 50,942 lbs. $1,705,561 of aid.

Those are the stats behind the latest medical aid we are sending into Haiti.

Where it’s going: New Missions has been planting churches that provide education and medical care in Haiti for the last 27 years. Their medical clinics, staffed 100% with Haitian leadership that New Missions has trained, are able to serve over 1,000 patients each month.

How it happened: After sharing about needed medicine, CHC contacted our partner, International Aid. Within 2 days, International Aid was able to secure a boatload (literally) of product.

I’ve been involved in many good business deals in my time, but I’m still scratching my head over this one. At a cost of $16,800 to CHC to procure and ship, we are able to bring over $1.7 million in aid to Haiti. I guess when God is in the equation, the numbers don’t have to add up.

-Tom

***

To learn more about Churches Helping Churches and to give to this ministry, go here.

1.  Creation/Fall
2.  Redemption (Israel/Jesus/church)
3.  Restoration (New Creation)

Here is the bullet point outline of my part of the Creation/Fall heading:

• The story of human history is God’s story of redemption. Yes, it’s our story, too, in that we are the ones being redeemed. But it’s God story in that he is the one who redeems. God is the one who initiates and accomplishes our redemption. We don’t initiate or accomplish anything in redemption’s story!
• The story of redemption really began in time when God created all that is, and he did so, ultimately, in order to display his glory.
• The climax of God’s creative work was the creation of man. In The Gospel of Luke’s genealogy of Jesus, Luke refers to Adam as a “son of God.” That’s not to say that Adam was divine or a god in any sense whatsoever. For Adam to be a “son of God” meant that he was graciously created to know the fatherly love and care of God,  to enjoy and participate in the love that God the Father eternally shared with his eternal Son.
• By creating man, God amazingly enlarged the circle of his family so that man might be loved and cared for even as God loves his eternal Son. As far as God the Father was/is concerned, he would have no second class children. Adam was created to share in the fullness of love that God the Father has forever shared with his eternal Son.
• But then the Fall happened. Man rebelled against the fatherly love and care of the God who created him in his image. As a result, man was cast out of the circle of God’s family. Suddenly, man found himself, not only outside the Garden of Eden, but outside God’s family of love. Tragically, man became an orphan of cosmic proportions.

More to come.

If you would covenant to pray for us as we serve in Haiti on our April 18-22 trip, we would be deeply grateful. We need your prayers!

I’m grateful for the media’s coverage of Haiti’s crisis. It confronts me with graphic images of human suffering. Where I live, life is simple and safe. I have more than enough to eat each day and a comfortable place to sleep each night. Compared to most everybody else in the world, my life is very hobbit-like. For the most part, like Tolkien’s hobbits in Middle-earth, I live among peace-loving, comfort-enjoying people.

One of the great dangers of living where I live is that I can easily adopt a hobbit’s way of thinking: “Well, it’s none of our concern what goes on beyond our borders. Keep your nose out of trouble and no trouble will come to you” (hobbit Ted Sandyman to Sam in The Fellowship of the Ring). In the face of that ongoing temptation, the media’s coverage confronts me daily with Haiti’s ongoing crisis, and for that I am grateful.

But the gospel does what media coverage cannot. It doesn’t merely awaken us to humanity’s need; it moves us out to meet it. We move out to meet the needs of others because God first came down to meet ours.

Long after the media coverage fades, after our nation’s attention has turned to other things, the gospel will still be moving us toward Haiti’s need. Therefore, it is critical that we as believers feast upon the gospel every day. It’s the only thing that will make what goes on beyond the borders of our own little Hobbiton our active concern. The gospel does what media coverage cannot: it mobilizes for long-term engagement.

This list includes trusted denominational agencies, funds started through broad church associations, and ministries either on the ground in Haiti or in the United States that we commend without hesitation. We will update the list as other organizations are suggested by our Council, as well as relay success stories from the ground. (We know that at least two of our Council members, Mark Driscoll and James MacDonald, are en route to Haiti to survey the situation first hand. Please join us in praying for their ministry.)

The crisis in Haiti is an opportunity to remind us of one of the non-negotiable characteristics of gospel-centered ministry. We say it this way in our Foundation Documents:

God created both soul and body, and the resurrection of Jesus shows that he is going to redeem both the spiritual and the material. Therefore God is concerned not only for the salvation of souls but also for the relief of poverty, hunger, and injustice. The gospel opens our eyes to the fact that all our wealth (even wealth for which we worked hard) is ultimately an unmerited gift from God. Therefore the person who does not generously give away his or her wealth to others is not merely lacking in compassion, but is unjust. Christ wins our salvation through losing, achieves power through weakness and service, and comes to wealth through giving all away. Those who receive his salvation are not the strong and accomplished but those who admit they are weak and lost. We cannot look at the poor and the oppressed and callously call them to pull themselves out of their own difficulty. Jesus did not treat us that way. The gospel replaces superiority toward the poor with mercy and compassion. Christian churches must work for justice and peace in their neighborhoods through service even as they call individuals to conversion and the new birth. We must work for the eternal and common good and show our neighbors we love them sacrificially whether they believe as we do or not. Indifference to the poor and disadvantaged means there has not been a true grasp of our salvation by sheer grace (Theological Vision For Ministry, “The Doing of Justice and Mercy,” section V, part 5).

May we show a watching world that we have “a true grasp of our salvation by sheer grace” by prayerfully supporting the relief efforts in Haiti.

***

TGC Recommended Relief Organizations*

• Baptist Global Response (SBC)
• Churches Helping Churches
• Cross International
• Double Harvest
• Harvest Foundation
• Hope International Development Agency
• Mission to North America (PCA)
• Mission to the World (PCA)
• Presbyterian Mission in Haiti
• Sovereign Grace Ministries Disaster Relief Fund
• World Relief

[*Ministries listed in alphabetical order and represent organizations focused not only on relief, but on rebuilding the church.]

The earthquake that will forever change that nation came as subterranean plates shifted about six miles under the surface of the earth, along a fault line that had threatened trouble for centuries. But no one saw a quake of this magnitude coming. The 7.0 quake came like a nightmare, with the city of Port-au-Prince crumbling, entire villages collapsing, bodies flying in the air and crushed under mountains of debris. Orphanages, churches, markets, homes, and government buildings all collapsed. Civil government has virtually ceased to function. Without power, communication has been cut off and rescue efforts are seriously hampered. Bodies are piling up, hope is running out, and help, though on the way, will not arrive in time for many victims.

Even as boots are finally hitting the ground and relief efforts are reaching the island, estimates of the death toll range as high as 500,000. Given the mountainous terrain and densely populated villages that had been hanging along the fault line, entire villages may have disappeared. The Western Hemisphere's most impoverished nation has experienced a catastrophe that appears almost apocalyptic.

In truth, it is hard not to describe the earthquake as a disaster of biblical proportions. It certainly looks as if the wrath of God has fallen upon the Caribbean nation. Add to this the fact that Haiti is well known for its history of religious syncretism -- mixing elements of various faiths, including occult practices. The nation is known for voodoo, sorcery, and a Catholic tradition that has been greatly influenced by the occult.

Haiti's history is a catalog of political disasters, one after the other. In one account of the nation's fight for independence from the French in the late 18th century, representatives of the nation are said to have made a pact with the Devil to throw off the French. According to this account, the Haitians considered the French as Catholics and wanted to side with whomever would oppose the French. Thus, some would use that tradition to explain all that has marked the tragedy of Haitian history -- including now the earthquake of January 12, 2010.

Does God hate Haiti? That is the conclusion reached by many, who point to the earthquake as a sign of God's direct and observable judgment.

God does judge the nations -- all of them -- and God will judge the nations. His judgment is perfect and his justice is sure. He rules over all the nations and his sovereign will is demonstrated in the rising and falling of nations and empires and peoples. Every molecule of matter obeys his command, and the earthquakes reveal his reign -- as do the tides of relief and assistance flowing into Haiti right now.

A faithful Christian cannot accept the claim that God is a bystander in world events. The Bible clearly claims the sovereign rule of God over all his creation, all of the time. We have no right to claim that God was surprised by the earthquake in Haiti, or to allow that God could not have prevented it from happening.

God's rule over creation involves both direct and indirect acts, but his rule is constant. The universe, even after the consequences of the Fall, still demonstrates the character of God in all its dimensions, objects, and occurrences. And yet, we have no right to claim that we know why a disaster like the earthquake in Haiti happened at just that place and at just that moment.

The arrogance of human presumption is a real and present danger. We can trace the effects of a drunk driver to a car accident, but we cannot trace the effects of voodoo to an earthquake -- at least not so directly. Will God judge Haiti for its spiritual darkness? Of course. Is the judgment of God something we can claim to understand in this sense -- in the present? No, we are not given that knowledge. Jesus himself warned his disciples against this kind of presumption.

Why did no earthquake shake Nazi Germany? Why did no tsunami swallow up the killing fields of Cambodia? Why did Hurricane Katrina destroy far more evangelical churches than casinos? Why do so many murderous dictators live to old age while many missionaries die young?

Does God hate Haiti? God hates sin, and will punish both individual sinners and nations. But that means that every individual and every nation will be found guilty when measured by the standard of God's perfect righteousness. God does hate sin, but if God merely hated Haiti, there would be no missionaries there; there would be no aid streaming to the nation; there would be no rescue efforts -- there would be no hope.

The earthquake in Haiti, like every other earthly disaster, reminds us that creation groans under the weight of sin and the judgment of God. This is true for every cell in our bodies, even as it is for the crust of the earth at every point on the globe. The entire cosmos awaits the revelation of the glory of the coming Lord. Creation cries out for the hope of the New Creation.

In other words, the earthquake reminds us that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only real message of hope. The cross of Christ declares that Jesus loves Haiti -- and the Haitian people are the objects of his love. Christ would have us show the Haitian nation his love, and share his Gospel. In the midst of this unspeakable tragedy, Christ would have us rush to aid the suffering people of Haiti, and rush to tell the Haitian people of his love, his cross, and salvation in his name alone.

Everything about the tragedy in Haiti points to our need for redemption. This tragedy may lead to a new openness to the Gospel among the Haitian people. That will be to the glory of God. In the meantime, Christ's people must do everything we can to alleviate the suffering, bind up the wounded, and comfort the grieving. If Christ's people are called to do this, how can we say that God hates Haiti?

If you have any doubts about this, take your Bible and turn to John 3:16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. That is God's message to Haiti.

***

Haiti saddens me. It saddens me in part because so many have lost so much. It also saddens me because I care so little.

I don’t say this flippantly. I say this because it’s the reaction I have right now. It’s not something I’m proud of; it’s simply what’s going on at this moment in my head and in my heart. Perhaps it’s because I don’t have a personal connection with anyone in Haiti. Perhaps it’s because I don’t have the kind of compassion I know I should have.

But this news does do something deep inside me. It affirms a gnawing feeling that there’s so much more to life and faith than what I know today. Today, I care about getting to bed late because I went to a UConn game with co-workers. Today, I care about wondering how many people are buying my new book. Today, I care about myself when there are others who need me to care about them.

Seeing suffering awakens me from the slumber of my ignorance, reminds me of my own self-centeredness, and plunges my theology into the deep water of reality. Is God sovereign, even as the earth heaves and fires are kindled? Is He good, even as the last cries of the dead drift quietly into the silence?

We know the rain falls on the just and the unjust. We know the Lord brings disaster on cities. We know He brings healing to the nations. We know He permits Satan to wreak havoc on His people. We know He restrains the devil. We know Jesus weeps over the lost. We know that some are born into suffering so that God might be glorified. There’s deep theology here, an ocean of questions and answers that flow in and through one another and leave us in one of two places: wondering where God is in the midst of suffering, or wondering at the mystery of this God who works all things, including suffering, for good according to His purposes.

I spent my lunch hour in a cemetery today. I don’t mean to be morbid, but it’s good to go to the place of the dead to be reminded that emails and deadlines and Twitter and phone calls aren’t quite as important as they seem throughout the day. It’s a good place to be when wondering at the mystery of this God who works all things, including earthquakes in Haiti, for good according to His purposes. And it’s a good place to go when thinking about what we’re supposed to do next. So:

Give if God moves you to do so.

Pray with zeal that the glory of God would shine brightly in the midst of this tragedy.

Weep for those whose tears are dried by despair.

Go if God sends you.

But perhaps most of all, live with Haiti in your heart. In a week, when the blogs and news cycles die down a bit, or in a month, when our lives consume us once more with other things, or in a year, when most of us will have long forgotten the day the earth broke under Haiti, another disaster will strike, and we will be awakened once more to the realization that we care far too much about the trivial and far too little about the eternal. We’ll be reminded that the bones of dead men testify that our lives are but a vapor. In that day, we will remember that living with Haiti in our hearts means living with a longing for the One who will bring renewal and restoration to a planet and a people who desperately need both.

My desire is that we give, and pray, and weep, and go, but that most of all we go to the Vine for comfort and hope and joy, even in the midst of great loss. When buildings fall and lives are ended, we need the earth-shattering, wound-healing, voice of the Son of God who says, “Behold, I make all things new.”

Lord Jesus, make Haiti new, a land where Gospel seeds are planted and Godly fruit grows into an abundant harvest. And make us new, each and every day of our lives, so that we will abide in You, for Your glory and our joy.

• Thanks to @kpbritton for pointing to the @nytimes Haiti Twitter list.
• Thanks to @MattChandler74 for highlighting this blog from Haiti.
• Helpful front page story in NYT with gripping photos.
• CNN outlines important facts about Haiti.

Praying that in the midst of the rubble, pain, and confusion massive practical relief efforts will succeed -- and quickly. In addition, praying that the gospel will take hold in Haiti in unprecedented, powerful ways through the many faithful missionaries stationed there.

Mobilize your people, Lord, for the sake of your name among the Haitians!