How to Help

We have all seen the images of devestation in Haiti...it is heartbreaking to witness such suffering while we sit in our heated homes on comfy sofas with plenty of fresh water when we turn on our kitchen faucet. There is a definate sense of guilt...the difference between them and us is simply geography. We didn't have an earthquake, they did. Their homes aren't standing anymore, ours are. Most of us have plenty of food in our pantries, they don't know how or when they will be able to feed their children. It is overwhelming. It seems hopeless...yet there is hope. There should always be hope. And help.

Please don't be so overwhelmed that you feel as though whatever you could do just wouldn't be enough. The point isn't to do it all...just do something. Maybe a few dollars that you had budgeted for something that isn't a necessity. I heard this week on the news that 80% of the population of Haiti lives on less than two dollars a day...that's less than most of us spend on a cup of coffee in the morning. (way less if you're going to Starbucks!) It might just seem like a drop in the bucket, but if we all put just one drop in the bucket, eventually we'll have a bucketfull!

So help. There are lots of ways to give, you can call your local church or local branch of the Red Cross. Go to www.umcor.org and not only can you make a donation, but you can find out how to make relief kits and how to send them. Do it now. And if you can, do it again later...they will need help for months and months to come. And pray. They so need our prayer. Pray for this country, their loss and their pain...mothers and fathers who have lost children...children who have lost their parents...the ones left waiting who still haven't found their loved ones...and pray that everyone will do something to help.