Heartbroken over Haiti

I've been to Haiti twice. Both times were life-changing experiences. Haiti is like no place else you've ever been. The poverty is so excruciatingly obvious. Thousands of people lived in cardboard and scrap metal shelters -- if you could call them that. Even the "middle class" lived in houses made of concrete blocks. They had so little. And now they have nothing. Nothing but God.

The Bible says it's not easy for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. I think his point is that when you aren't in need, you don't understand the concept of receiving a gift of life. Or surrendering your life to someone. When you don't eat for a few days, you understand that everything is a gift. That life is tenuous and precious. That surrendering to a God who cares is your only hope. I have never seen God at work like I did in Haiti either. I've never seen such worship. Or heard more heart-felt prayers. The Haitian people have a grasp of the love of God like no one I've ever seen.

College friends of mine were in the process of adopting twin boys from a Port Au Prince orphanage. In these last several days since the earthquake, they've received word that the boys survived the earthquake, but that their building was damaged. All the toddlers and babies are sleeping outside and spending the days outside in the tropical heat as well. Their food and water supplies are running low. The adoption paperwork lies under rubble. People who could finalize the paperwork are under the rubble too.

They've caught glimpses of their boys in snapshots on Soledad O'Brien's FB page. On Larry King Live. They've seen updates from the For His Glory website detailing the ordeal of getting the paperwork of all the children finished so that they can be transported to America, to families who have been waiting for them.

Today I see on Facebook that Jake and Amy learned that a request they'd put in a year ago to adopt a little girl from the same orphanage has been approved as well, so they will welcome 3 new children into their family soon. It's amazing how God is working.

I see lots of media stories about those who set up make-shift clinics or triage areas in the hours after the initial quake. The media is not quick to point out that most of those clinics are being run by faith-based organizations who have been in Haiti trying to make a difference for a long time. And they are. They are in Haiti for such a time as this.

So today, as my heart is heavy, I give thanks for so many miracles that have come of this tragedy. For families that will grow. For people that will come to know God or know him better. For missionaries who are in the thick of it. For the beautiful Haitian people who are surviving and taking care of each other.

I do not understand. But I know a God who does.