The Acacia Community

My mind has been consistently on the news headlines in Haiti this last week.  Its been hard to avoid both praying and shaking my head at the situation.  We live in a very visual culture… so if you’ve only read or heard a the news there, I’d encourage you to look at this photo journal from cnn.com to gain a little perspective on the scope of the devastation.  One of the more interesting things I read on the Haiti earthquake was written by David Brooks in the NY Times.  He starts his article with this crazy fact: On Oct. 17, 1989, a major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 struck the Bay Area in Northern California. Sixty-three people were killed. This week, a major earthquake, also measuring a magnitude of 7.0, struck near Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The Red Cross estimates that between 45,000 and 50,000 people have died.How is this possible?  In short, the infrastructure in a country like Haiti ( Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with 80% of the population living under the poverty line and 54% in abject poverty, which is less than $1 US / Day) compared to the USA is like night & day.  From building to structure codes to emergency response organizations, Haiti simply couldn’t weather an earthquake in the same way.  It was a disaster magnified by the lack of resources and poverty.  And in a country where there are over 10,000 aid or micro-aid organizations (many of them faith based), one has to wonder where these types of organizations are missing the mark.  More specifically, Brooks poses the theory that the problem is not the amount of money the world gives to a place like Haiti, but how that money is spent.  Somehow, much of the NGO/Aid activity in Haiti is not cutting into the poverty its meant to, or preparing the country for a moment like this.

This is, no doubt, a complex issue.  And as I seek to personalize this moment in someway, I consider the role of the church in the world, and the way we go about “mission”.  I wonder if this is a moment where the church can think deeply about the ways we reach out to others who have less in this world (as we do in Peru).  In many ways, I remain reluctant of “mission” or “mission project” language–  because it suggests that what we do internationally on some project/trip is the REAL work of God, but somehow the rest of life isn’t.  (thank you, Dwight Friesen, for this brilliant insight!)  But on a practical level, I’m really interested in how we use the dollars and cents we have for the people we know in places like Peru.  Are they simply give-aways for people, or gift projects…. or, are they in someway challenging systems of poverty and hurt?  Are they bringing something sustainable?   How does change happen, really, I wonder?  These questions have been at the heart of things like our recent mototaxi project in Lima.  But its really a big question for the 21st century church to work through together!

In this moment, I pray for those on the ground in Haiti in the aftermath of so much death.  And I pray for a hopeful, sustainable plan for the people of Haiti moving forward.  Is it possible that such a way could be paved by those who have Jesus’ kingdom in mind?   I hope so!  In the meantime, if you’re interested in giving towards the need in Haiti– two options:  WBCC has partnered with Abiding Hope Lutheran, which has people already on the ground in Haiti (they’ve worked there for years)  Any donations @ WBCC that you designate to them are 100% towards relief.  Second, our friend Nate Jerome is networked with some important work going on right now in Haiti.  His friend, Matt McCormick, is on the ground there.  You can give & track his work at http://highwaytohaiti.com/

-Craig