The Haiti Benefit Concert was a smashing success!!! I am awed, amazed and beyond blessed by the outpouring of love, prayer and money by my community. You guys are awesome! We raised about $1400 for J/P HRO (not counting online dona
tions- which you can make by following that link!).
The night honestly could not have been better! We had an awesome turnout- Parchments was packed! The bands were amazing (no surprise!)… it was a great night and fun was had by all.
Friday, January 14 · 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Parchments Cafe And Bookstore
348 North Canyons Parkway in Livermore, CA
Come see Northern District, Daniel Gillette and Joshua Colburn play at Parchments!
We will be taking donations at the door to benefit JP Haitian Relief Organization- the non-profit organization that runs the Petionville tent city in Port au Prince, Haiti.
If you can’t attend, you can still contribute! Go to http://jphro.org/ and click the big red ‘Donate’ button to give online.
Tell your friends!!
Tonight I went with my family to see the Nutcracker at the Bankhead theater. It was surprisingly good for a home town production!
When all the little kids came out and danced I couldn’t help but think about the kids in the tent city in Haiti. I cried through most of the opening party scene thinking about the kids. Thinking about the things they’re missing, and missing them.
Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. [Tell a storm to leave our friends alone and it will.] Nothing will be impossible for you. Matthew 17:20
When God’s people pray, things happen. Big things. Like Hurricane Tomas skirting around Haiti.
Check out the following articles:
A Reporter Beathes a Sigh of Relief for Haiti
Haiti ‘got very lucky’ as Tomas skirted island
Thank you for praying. Thank you for caring.
“… “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.” Matthew 8:26
Ok people, you want to do something for the people of Haiti? Here is your chance. Tropical storm Tomas is headed straight for Haiti and is expected to hit early Friday morning. Reports on whether the storm will actually be a hurricane by then are varied.
So what is it you can do? You can pray. Even if you’ve never prayed before. Even if you’ve been praying about this all day. Pray.
Our God calms the storms. Calms the raging sea. He can do this. I can see in my mine Jesus standing on the southwest tip of Haiti with His arms outstretched. Ready.
This afternoon when I prayed I was reminded of Abraham pleading for Sodom in Genesis 18-
Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”…..32 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?”
He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”
There is Hope for Haiti and I believe our God can calm the storm. Miraculously. And that is what I am asking for. Please join me.
More info:
Article about the J/P HRO (camp where I served) prepping for the storm
Article about tent city evacuations (I went to the Corail tent city once, too. It was…. horrible. There were 5,000 people without food suffering in the oppressive heat.)
I have been through the valley of weeping,
the valley of sorrow and pain;
but the God of all comfort was with me,
at hand to uphold and sustain.As the earth needs the clouds and the sunshine,
our souls need both sorrow and joy;
so He places us oft in the furnace,
the dross from the gold to destroy.So we’ll follow wherever He leadeth,
let the path be dreary or bright;
for we’ve proved that our God can give comfort,
our God can give songs in the night.From Streams in the Desert
I’ve posted this before… it just fits so well.
L’Eternel est mon berger.
Je ne manquerai de rien. Psaume 23:1
I’ve been thinking about Haiti a lot lately… not that I ever stopped. So many things remind me of my time there. I never thought I would say this, but I miss Haiti. (Who am I kidding? I knew that this day would come. It always does.)
I want to go back, but what would I do there? What did I even do the first time around? It’s so difficult to really put a finger on the intangibles… though I suppose that’s why we call them intangible.
In order for me to survive in Haiti I had to put a wall around my heart. You see, I cry watching the news. I cry reading the news. I cry watching Oprah… heck, I cry during particularly moving commercials. I am tender hearted. Haiti is not an easy home for a tender heart. I would have died of grief had I not done something to protect myself. Problem is, I’m having a hard time deconstructing it. (If it we’re real I’d dance around it seven times with horns or something.)
Most days I am fine, though in my quiet times with God I am finding it impossible to get past a certain point with my heart. I hit a wall. I can feel it. I can’t quite touch it. I can’t quite reach it, but I can feel it. Sometimes I accidently jump over it into the sludge. I have a particularly close friend whom, whenever our usually joking conversation turns serious I end up weeping and talking about Haiti for at least 45 minutes. It’s happened several times now.
What’s a girl to do? I pray frequently for my friends there. I’ve toyed with the idea of going back on my own accord (Casey Johnson: Rogue Missionary. I like it.). I’ve thought about volunteering for J/P HRO.
I’m so afraid of forgetting… and afraid I’ll never heal. Jesus knows.
