Reaching Out to Haiti

^“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, ^inherit the kingdom ^prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And ^the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these ^my brothers, you did it to me.’ ” – (Matt 25:34-40)

We are commanded, by the words of Jesus, to take care of those in need and to share the gospel with the lost.  And we are to take up the call to minister to people, not only in the area in which we live, but all across the world.  Jesus commands us in Acts 1:8 to be witnesses in Jerusalem (our local home town), Judea (the immediate area surrounding our home town), Samaria (other places within our country), and to the ends of the earth.

Of course, there are many hurting people all across the world, but right now, the focus seems to be on Haiti because of the recent earthquake.  They are still suffering from the effects of it.  Of course, most of us just cannot pick up and leave and go help people.  But, if you and your family are looking for ways to somehow minister to Haiti, there are different ways you can help the people over there.  There are a couple of them that my family and I are involved in.

Mississippi Disaster Relief – Buckets of Hope

The Southern Baptist State Convention of Mississippi has a special disaster relief program, as do most of the state conventions, that focuses on responding to disasters, both here at home and around the world.  Right now they are collecting buckets of food to help send over to Haiti which will go to a family who needs it.  If you would like to help in this special project, or would like more information, please go to their website at http://www.mbcb.org/haiti/buckets.aspx.  I also have included the PDF document which gives the details about what food items they are requesting in each bucket.  Click here to download the document.

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The Hands and Feet Project – A Haitian Orphanage

The Hands and Feet Project is an orphanage that was founded and is run by the members of the Christian rock band, Audio Adrenaline.  These men felt called of God to go to Haiti and take up the command to care for the orphans and widows.  This is, as the book of James calls it, true and pure religion.  The RA’s and GA’s at our church and currently raising money to send to this project, especially during this time as they are not only taking care of the orphans there, but also the surrounding community as they are continuing to respond to the recent earthquake.  You can go to http://www.handsandfeetproject.org/home.php to find out more information and to make a special donation to them.

These are a couple great projects to be involved in.  I know that there are many others out there just like these, so take these as suggestions or starting points as you begin to pray and consider where God wants you to be involved in carrying out Acts 1:8.