The Call – Haiti

Last week, I traveled to Mirebalais, Haiti with Pastor Matt Mashburn as part of a fact finding trip for a future West Pines Community Church (WPCC) missions trip with The Great Commission Alliance Network (GCA). While we were on the ground only 26 hours, there are too many stories to possibly cover in one blog post. So I will focus on where my heart is the most burdened: The Orphans.

2 Orphanages…

We visited two orphanages during our trip, one were refugees from Port-au-Prince with 10 children and a pastor’s wife trying to care for them. They are living in a rundown place (the pastor lived there 10 year ago and it has not been maintained since). The pastor is in Port-au-Price caring for the people there. The second was an orphanage with 40 children (20 of which are deaf). The pastor was/is in the hospital in Port-au-Prince battling complications from diabetes. Both are incredible stories of hope.

Heartbreak…

My heart is broken for the smaller group of kids (pictured above). They lost everything. There are signs of under nourishment. They are in need of better shelter, medical care, clothing, food, and basic living supplies. GCA has been providing rice and beans and is working on beds (they currently sleep on a concrete floor sharing 6 pillows), but they need some much more. WPCC brought shoes, toothbrushes, candy and soccer balls.

As we plan for a larger full mission trip, my heart is heavy. The needs are great and we are unable to provide even the basic items for just the 60 orphans we visited (not to mention the 1000’s in Haiti). At times I feel completely inept. I have this feeling of hopelessness. Luckily, I don’t have to do anything except allow God to use me as he feels fit.

Hope…

But…there’s hope! Sheri and I have traveled all over the world and it’s the same everywhere we go. Kids love life. They love to explore. They love to laugh, play, and experience new things. These 10 kids are no different. They were smiling ear-to-ear over having new shoes. They loved having visitors and were wide-eye-wondering about us. They sang songs and followed us around until we left. I love kids.

Encouragement…

Can be found in the pastor of the larger orphanage. This group receives neither government nor outside funding assistance. They have a church on site with about 300 people attending every week. The average Haitian makes $1.50 a day. Yet, this church and pastor have been able to provide for 40 orphans, plant 5 churches, and minister to the local community. If God can do all that through this church and pastor, imagine what God can do through West Pines Community Church! All we have to do is get out of the way and allow God do his work.

Action…

Now we’re called into action. Going to Haiti has changed me. God has shown me something that I cannot turn away from. I must do more. I must do everything I can to bring hope and care to these children in their greatest time of need. The world is focused on Port-au-Prince, yet there are orphans everywhere in Haiti (and the rest of the world for that matter). I must live My Life Manifesto out and this is an important aspect of that.

You may not be able to go to Haiti, but you can help. Help to sponsor one of the West Pines students; help by providing money for supplies;  most importantly help by praying for the orphans and that God will protect and provide for them.

One last thing..

This weekend 5/23/10, Pastors Robey and Matt will be telling the story of our trip and what the plans are for West Pines in Haiti. Please make every effort to be there. If you cannot be there, listen to the podcast when it becomes available on the website.

Will you join us in our call to partner with GCA and help the orphans of Haiti?

Links…

West Pines Community Church: www.westpines.org

Great Commission Alliance Network: www.gcanet.org

Haiti – the next step in long-term impact

In January 2010, Port-Au-Prince Haiti was destroyed by an earthquake of unimaginable magnitude (as thought of by death toll). See CNN’s special Haiti coverage here.

In response, like everyone, we wanted to know we could do. West Pines Community Church in concert with others, launched www.healingforhaitinow.com and coordinated the intake and logistics for delivery of food, medical supplies, tents, clothing and money. At that time, I blogged in this post about how to help in the immediate term. I later blogged about the need to help the orphans of Haiti in this post. I have twittered several messages challenging my followers to think about what’s next for Haiti. Does it stop with your $10 txt message? Not at West Pines. We are now planning our long-term Haiti efforts.

Next week, Pastor Matt Mashburn and I will be taking an overnight trip to Haiti with Great Commission Alliance to explore the facts on the ground and as another next step in developing West Pine’s long-term missions strategy.

I will be posting next week from Haiti. Both Pastor Matt and I will be updating via Twitter as the day develops. We will be using hash tag #WPHaiti on all Haiti related tweets.

Our twitter pages are:

http://twitter.com/mattmashburn

http://twitter.com/SWMackey

You don’t even have to join twitter to read about it. You can just go to the above webpages and the tweets are viewable. You can also read my twitter updates on this blog (right hand reading pane)

Please pray that God will protect us, use us to meet immediate needs, and give us the vision of how he wants to use Sheri and I and West Pines in Haiti.

Generous Leadership

This week Denney’s offered a free grand-slam breakfast for the second year in a row. The lines were out the door. The restaurants were completely staffed and full. How did the waiters/waitresses/bus boys do in tips? Assuming you ordered a cup of coffee with your free breakfast, your total bill would have been $2. If we follow the traditional tipping model, the server got a whopping $.20 or for you big spenders $.30.

Here’s an idea. Give the full price of the meal you just got for free. Say $6. That’s a 300% tip. Or better yet, give them $10! I know crazy…but the breakfast would have cost you $10 with a tip anyway. Now it cost you $12, but you helped out an overworked, under-appreciated person. Believe me, it’s the last day they want to work because the tips suck. People are cheap. Don’t be cheap, be generous. Over deliver in all you do.

This was an opportunity to lead generously. Did you?

How about for Haiti? Did you txt your $10 in and check-the-box calling yourself generous? How about donating a desperately needed tent through Healing For Haiti Now? Get one off eBay and have it delivered to:

WPCC

Attn: Healing for Haiti Now

21113 Johnson St. STE 120

Pembroke Pines, FL 33029

The real test of your leadership and intentions: Don’t tell ANYONE what you did. No one needs to know. Lead generously, but be humble. And DO NOT expect nor accept anything in return.

Are you leading generously? Look in the mirror and answer honestly. If you don’t like the answer, change it.

Orphans…The Heartbreak of Haiti

There’s much talk and debate about orphans and what’s best for them after the recent earthquake in Haiti, We heard the same discussions after the tsunami a few years ago. In our house we are discussing several core issues on how we can best be used to illustrate God’s love for the poor. Some of the questions I have asked myself include:

• If they do allow them to come to US, should we try to help one? Why?
• What age is best? Why?
• What will be the financial impact to us? Can we afford another child? Why?
• Would we be better using those financial resources to support children left in Haiti through Compassion International? Why?
• Would it be better to focus on the One vs. the Many? Why?
• Are we really begin called to help a Haitian child (or children)? Why?

None of these are simple questions. There are no right or wrong answer, and what you feel we should do is irrelevant. What matters most is what God directs us to do.

For me the most important question above is: WHY? Why are we choosing to help in the way we do? What is behind our decision? I have to constantly check against pride. I have to make sure my motives are pure. You’ll notice that no matter what we end up doing, there is no wrong answer – only wrong motives. By being prayerful, honestly answering these questions, openly discussing how we all feel, and seeking counsel I am sure that God will provide the answers for us. They may not be the same answers for you. What’s important is that we help “the least of these” in a way that honors God.

How are you going to help Haiti’s orphans? Why?

The below article is a little bonus to helped give me some perspective.

Thomas Hale’s article titled True Religion.:

Rejected by his Nepali villagers, nine-year-old Krishna asked surgeon Thomas Hale to allow him to stay at the mission hospital.

I thought of the precedent it would set. We would be deluged with orphans the minute the word got out. Up until now we had been very careful not to get involved taking in unwanted children. Wasn’t it enough to have come to this place, to care for the sick until the y recovered, to feed them if they were hungry, and to pay their bills if they had no money? Did our Christian duty demand adopting them as well?

“Krishna, you must go home. Now.”

He burst into tears.

My decision had been right, but I was wrong. Krishna cried for a long time. Along with his tears, he poured out his heart to me – his fears, his loneliness, his longing for a hom and for affection. My mind went back to an evening some weeks earlier when I had haltingly tried to explain the meaning of James 1:27 to our Nepali Bible class: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” That passage, I learned, is (one of only two places) in the New Testament where the word “orphan” is used. The versa had not impressed me then; in fact, I had been unable to figure out why James defined, “pure and faultless” in such odd terms. As I sat there listening to Krishna, however, the verse began to take on a new meaning for me. It meant that if I were not ready to care for orphans in their distress, then there was something very wrong with my religion. Not being content with my exegesis of this verse, God seemed further to be asking me, “If you are not ready to care for this orphan in his distress, who are you ever going to care for?”

That day, Krishna did not return to his village.

Haiti…What Can We Really Do?

Like everyone, we are completely shocked at the magnitude and scale of devastation in Haiti. Living in South Florida, we are very close to Haiti and know several Haitian Americans. The poverty of Haiti is well known (maybe not widely known, but anyone who is aware of global poverty is well aware of the issues in Haiti).

Given our business (Luminosity Global Consulting Group) is global focused and we have lived and traveled to over 30 countries, we have a lot of experience in international living, travel and serving others. In our local church (West Pines Communities Church) we serve on the Missions Team and partner with Compassion International, the Red Cross, Sheridan House, 4 Kids of South Florida, Taylor’s Closet, Hope Pregnancy Center, and Samaritans Purse (Operation Shoe Box).

Like everyone, we feel the greatness of lose and want to help. Do you want to know how to help? Here it is, our church is partnering with local businesses, churches and organizations to coordinate and deliver donations to Haiti in partnership with the Red Cross. For all the details, go to our dedicated blog at: http://healingforhaitinow.wordpress.com/

We are humbled to be allowed to serve those in need. Haiti is in need. Please pray and look for opportunities to help. This is going to require sustained support. In 2 years there will still be needs.

Want to get involved? Follow the above blog!