Learning From My Students — Again!
This morning, I was finishing up my Keynote slides for class: teaching 300 students on Acts 1:1 – 6:7. But it didn’t have my full attention. For the news from Haiti kept coming in waves over CNN. And as I moved back and forth from the lecture I’d be giving to the news I was hearing, it struck me that I talk about compassion much more than I practice it.
Acts 2:45 – “They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.”
CNN – Hundreds . . . thousands . . . maybe tens of thousands dead . . .
Acts 4:33 – “And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy person among them.”
CNN – People buried . . . no electricity . . . sense of terror . . .
So I hurried through the text, pointing out in the beginning that Acts is about the early church doing — by the power of the Resurrected One — what Jesus had taught and practiced in Luke. Then at the end, we talked about Haiti. About its lack of safety net (no fire department to call if your baby is trapped, no 911 to call if your spouse is bleeding to death), about its extreme poverty (poorest country in the Western hemisphere), but also about its pockets of deep faith.
We threw up baskets at the doors, and the class dropped in $763 plus about $20 in change. Then four of them counted the money quickly, and took it to ACU administrators (who are always anxious for the students to be involved in urgent needs like this). I think the whole student body will be given a chance to join in this contribution.
How about you? Haiti depends on our response. As Nicholas Kristof wrote, “Today we are all Haitians.”
Perhaps your church has some connections there. If not, I have a lot of confidence in the good people at Manna Global Ministries. They have people who’ve lived in Haiti, who are fluent in Creole, who know the culture, who will be there tomorrow. Keep an eye on their website for specific ways to help.
You can get updates from the American Red Cross Disaster Newsroom. And you can donate to the Red Cross Haiti relief effort here.
I, too, am touched by the vastness of this tragedy. I love stories about how people will rise up to help in an instant! NPR gave a website that gives a list of good, dependable, and reputable agencies that are helping:
http://itsjustlight.com/?page_id=777
What a beautiful example of spontaneous giving. I’d love to hear other stories of how people are going to respond to this tragedy. Thanks, Mike.
Thank you Mike for being a teacher that helps the students embody the lesson! It’s easy to make the gospel abstract stories rather than stories that we live in. Even simple steps like giving money in the moment can help students, and people, be more aware of others.
Mike, both Healing Hands International (www.hhi.org) and White’s Ferry Road church (http://www.wfrchurch.org/relief/) will be sending disaster relief and need our suppport as soon as possible.
The message below is from the WFR website:
*Urgent need for food, water and emergency supplies in the Port-au-Prince area of Haiti – See CNN for latest news.
*Church and ministry leaders are networking tonight.
*WFR Relief team going to Haiti next week to do damage assessment and to implement a disaster response plan.
*Contributions are most urgently needed.
Thanks, Don Yelton, WFR Relief
Thanks so much, Marlea. Both are such wonderful, trusted groups!
I feel sure that Dr. David Smith, here in LR, is frantically working to get assistance to the many people he knows through his medical missions work in Haiti.
Doctors Without Borders/MSF are very active in Haiti. The hospital was established by MSF, in fact. I sent in what I could today through the site, Doctors Without Borders Donation Page.
If you give to the red cross or MSF, please consider not earmarking the gift. Haiti is on our minds at present, as well it should be, but the poverty and destruction are all around and we don’t know what tomorrow’s emergency will be. If they have freedom to use the money we donate on the greatest current need, there’s less red tape and they are able to respond that much faster.
Christianity near its worst: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/ni/2010/01/haiti_was_cursed_after_pact_wi.html. Please tell the world that Pat R doesn’t speak for the church!!
I visited this morning with Dale Huff who is invovled in the preaching school at Haiti. He has connects with many churches of Christ in Haiti as well and mentioned that Porta Prince has the largest number of Churches of Christ in Haiti. His first report was that many of the churches of Christ have totally been destoryed and extremely damaged. Countless Christians are missing and unaccounted for as well. He recommended a great organization that Churches and Christians can support, it is Hope For Haiti’s Children http://www.hopeforhaitischildren.org
Keep them in our prayers and thanks for your support!!
Let’s put our faith into practice!
Pat Robertson: please shut up. For a long time. Cheers, qb
One of the best ways to help Haiti right now is to donate to World Vision’s Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund. They’re set up to respond to emergencies such as this with food, water, blankets, etc. They are on the ground there because they live there! They were the only ones to talk to when NPR was looking to report. There are definitely other ways, but, WV is tried and true. (I worked with them for almost three years.) If this link doesn’t work just go to http://www.worldvision.org and follow the links. http://donate.worldvision.org/OA_HTML/xxwv2ibeCCtpItmDspRte.jsp?funnel=&item=1958776§ion=&go=item&xxwvCampaign=113655189
Sadly, as soon as I started hearing of the earthquake in Haiti, the first thought I had was, “I wonder what stupid thing Pat Robertson will say about this?”
How predictable. HOW SAD.
Okay so P.R says some stupid things. Isn’t it great that we are part of a denomination where we don’t have to be concerned about what stupid thing was said last week or may be said next week. You know, things I think I’ve heard like:
God hates Instrumental Music and we will fight about this for over 100 years
Women cant speak or pray if a man is present
We are the only ones going to heaven
Blacks are slaves b/c of the curse on Ham, but we’re over that now, well mostly.
The water of baptism is the point at which one comes in contact with the blood of Jesus, assuming they had the right understanding in their mind when they were baptized
Thank God we are so much better Christians than P.R.
Pastor Mike,
I read this today and it summed up my feelings well – “what amazes me more than the horrible comments of Robertson is the silence that ensues in the faith community.” I appreciate you bringing this up – in my current state (angry) I want to say that I think your PR comment belongs at the top of the blog so that there is even less silence about this.
As a Believer in and follower of Jesus I pray never to make a mistake, slip of the tongue, whatever. And if I do, pray that the ‘Christian” community doesn’t get wind of it ’cause seems God’s model of grace gets lost in our community. I’m with you, Geezer!!
I also seem to remember something Jesus said about going in private to one who falls in error, talk to that person in private. It’s a process before it’s made public. What disturbs me here is that the hour program was 99% about compassionate giving to try to ease the pain the Haitians are going through, including what his organization is trying to get to Haiti, as well as informing his listeners of safe and legitimate urls, phone numbers, email addies to make donations. 1% of his program was when he made this silly remark. We seem to have turned that percentage completely around, or maybe even more. What I’m reading is 100% condemnation. What am I missing here?
You might like Randy Alcorn’s opinion on Pat’s statement: http://randyalcorn.blogspot.com/2010/01/haiti-earthquake-was-pat-robertson.html
Well, for one thing, nobody ought to get any extra credit at all for suggesting publicly that we all pitch in to help Haiti. That is massively self-evident.
But this isn’t an isolated incident or innocent “slip of the tongue.” It is merely the latest of a long string of preposterous associations that Robertson apparently loves to make in his self-appionted role as America’s prophet of doom. Here are just a few that you may recall:
“I would warn Orlando that you’re right in the way of some serious hurricanes, and I don’t think I’d be waving those flags in God’s face if I were you, This is not a message of hate — this is a message of redemption. But a condition like this will bring about the destruction of your nation. It’ll bring about terrorist bombs; it’ll bring earthquakes, tornadoes, and possibly a meteor.” (speaking on “gay days” at Disney World, 1998)
“I’d like to say to the good citizens of Dover: If there is a disaster in your area, don’t turn to God, you just rejected him from your city. And don’t wonder why he hasn’t helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I’m not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that’s the case, don’t ask for his help because he might not be there.” (responding to the city of Dover’s rejection of Intelligent Design in schools, 2005)
There are many other examples of Robertson’s trigger-happy rhetoric, which always seems to piont in the direction of a ruthless and petulant form of Calvinism, which brings not just reproach but also shame and derision upon the community of faith, the bride of Christ.
BTW, we have several examples in Scripture of public figures being denounced in public without going through the prescription of behind-the-scenes discipline in Matthew 18 and elsewhere. We are not called to follow a formula; we are called to be discerning. In this case, the weight of the ACCRETING evidence demands that Robertson’s repeated nonsense be called what it is, and publicly.
qb
Kathy,
Maybe people miss whatever good P.R. is trying to do because the statement he made is only one of many statements he has made like this in the past (without ever learning that such statments, true or not, are neither helpful of ringing with compassion). Maybe it is because such a statement is so inflamatory that it engulfs and undermine whatever credibility and good-faith effort P.R. has put forth. Remember, it takes a lifetime to grow a strong healthy tree and only a minute with a crude chainsaw to cut that tree down.
Grace and peace,
Rex
In Abilene is a great source for helping Haiti… GLOBAL SAMARAITAN RESOURCES.They are equipped and ready to help. I praise God for the church of Christ and all the numerous good works that have been accomplished for the help of so many. And there will be a great outpouring of aid for HAITI.
Pat may have indelicately misidentified the problem with Haiti, but I try to cut old people a little more slack. Robertson may see voodoo, drug use, drunkenness, and lawless dysfunctions and think – THAT’S THE DEBUL. While his history might be wrong, for what identifier was he searching ? Haiti’s problems are certainly much deeper than an earthquake.
QB,
In your comments above regarding P.R. you added the following: “There are many other examples of Robertson’s trigger-happy rhetoric, which always seems to piont in the direction of a ruthless and petulant form of Calvinism, which brings not just reproach but also shame and derision upon the community of faith, the bride of Christ.”
I guess I am a little slow to understand how Calvinism was dragged into this sad story and in what way you see P.R. as representing any form of Calvinism. Would you be willing to help me understand? Calvin takes a bad rap in so many caricatures presented in Pelagian churches so I really would like to understand that your comment is not just one more. Please explain it for me.
Peace,
Geezer
It was a gratuitous slap, Geezy, so carry on. qb