Haiti … two years later

Two years ago today the country of Haiti, who was already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, was dealt a crushing blow. The 7.0-magnitude earthquake brought near biblical destruction to the country killing between 200,000 and 300,000 people. Some 15 percent of Haiti’s entire population of almost 10 million were either killed or displaced by the quake. To this day, almost 520,000 survivors still live in one of 800 camps dotted around the crowded capital city Port-au-Prince.

Shocked in the immediate aftermath of one of the deadliest disasters of modern times, the international community promised billions of aid money to build back a better country. Former presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush even got on board. Unfortunately, two years removed less than half of the pledged money has been received and disbursed.  The country is still in dire need of support.

All of the above information is readily available on most all news sites. What is not commonly communicated is the dark spiritual need of the country. As devastated as the country is financially with a great need to rebuild, its spiritual condition is even worse. In 2003 Voodoo, a development of West African spiritism and witchcraft,  was declared a national religion. Although a majority of the people living there claim to be Christian, 75% are also actively involved in Voodoo.

So what can we do? I have wrestled with this question since even before the earthquake of 2010. This summer a group from our church will be serving in Haiti with an established ministry called World Hope. Our team will be serving in several ways in an attempt to shine the Light of Jesus in a very dark place. If you have skills in the medical field, in construction, have a deep love for children or simply just want to be used by God in an amazing way, I want to highly encourage you to pray about joining our church this summer. For those that can’t go, please be in prayer both for the country of Haiti and those from our church that will be serving there this summer.

Click here for a more information and a prayer guide for Haiti.