Haiti!

In the face of such an enormous tragedy, it's nice to feel like one can help in big and/or small ways.

Big ways: if you can, please donate to an appropriately-efficient organization. As a United Methodist I am proud to tell you that UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) received an A+ rating from a watchdog group that rated the groups working in Haiti. I'm partial to sending donations through UMCOR!

Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, Feed My Starving Children, and many others can use the money, too. Feed My Starving Children can produce a nutritious meal for 17 cents! Apparently their building in Haiti is one of very few to survive. So they will be able to get right to work, especially with more donations.

In addition to money, UMCOR is asking for Health Kits which are easy and fun to assemble. Information can be found at this link:

http://www.umc.org/haiti

Some people are wondering "where is God?" in this disaster. I see God everywhere: in the tears of the people around the world, in the compassion and energy and hands-on help of the people who were able to get there quickly, in the Haitian people themselves who help and comfort each other and sing songs to help buoy each others' spirits, and in the joy they all feel when they are able to rescue someone alive from the rubble. I see God also in the faces of the journalists who are reporting on the horror and trying to remain professional amidst chaos. You can see them struggling with their empathy for the people's suffering. They are doing a service by communicating the needs to us.

I offer prayers for continued help to arrive quickly and efficiently, and for peace to prevail as the enormous re-building begins. God bless the people of Haiti.