This past Friday tens of millions of dollars was raised on behalf of Haiti thanks to a telethon called Hope For Haiti Now. That two hour star-studded event preempted most network shows in a bid to raise much needed funds to help people whose lives were shattered when a devastating earthquake shook their tropical island nation two weeks ago.

Are You Listening?

A number of Christian music artists have also been doing their part to help Haiti, coming together recently to record a song, Are You Listening? The song, written by Kirk Franklin as a tribute to Haiti eight years ago, but only recorded just this past week is a moving plea for help. “Artists United For Haiti” is itself packed with stars with BeBe and CeCe Winans lending their voices along with Shirley Caesar, Natalie Grant, Fred Hammond, Mary Mary, Jeremy Camp, Stephen Hurd, and so many others joining in.

The Gospel Music Channel (GMC) played the song over and over again on Friday evening just before the Hope For Haiti Now event started. “Are You Listening?” is available for download through Verity Records for just $1.29 with the proceeds going toward assisting organizations at work in Haiti including the Red Cross. You can also find the single through iTunes with major retailers such as Wal-Mart carrying the song after January 30.

Kirk Franklin Shares

Speaking about the song Kirk Franklin shared, “This initiative is so important because while we are asking America to give we know that many are giving sacrificially. The people of Haiti are very spiritual people with an unwavering faith and belief in God and still count The Lord as the main source and provider. We will continue to pray and stand with them. We hope this song will bring much needed support and awareness in an effort to raise funds in the near and long-term future.”

Click on the logo for more information or head over to Verity Records to purchase your copy.

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Ten days have passed since the Haiti quake struck, a massive temblor that shook the island nation and killed tens of thousands of people. Aid is spreading across the land, but for many people the help arrived too late having succumbed to their injuries beneath a pile of rubble or died waiting for medical help outside of collapsed hospitals.

Now for some controversy: Pat Robertson made a comment about Haiti immediately following the quake, saying that the nation carries a curse because of some deal that they made with the devil two centuries ago to get out from underneath French rule.

Two thoughts about Robertson and then I will move on:

Robertson seems to always say something to stir the pot including his calls for our nation’s military to assassinate Venezuela’s president Hugo Chavez. Usually he recants or clarifies his position which suggests to me that Pat often speaks before he thinks. “…so let your words be few. Ecclesiastes 5:2”

If God is angry with Haiti, what about the US? Today marks the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and to date 50 million babies have been aborted. Does God play favorites? I think not! Besides, does God chastise us while He offers us His comfort? Not a chance!

Relief continues to find its way across Haiti with quite a few organizations and governments present. Search teams are still sifting through the rubble at Hotel Montana in search of hundreds believed buried underneath including six members of a team students and faculty from Lynn University in Boca Raton, FL. Eight students have escaped, but hope has grown dim regarding the fate of the missing.

Samaritan’s Purse (SP) has a medical relief team on the ground in Port-au-Prince and a disaster relief team operating northeast of the city. On Monday, SP will be sending out 235 foot long relief barge stocked with 200 tons of equipment including bulldozers, backhoes, fuel trucks and other heavy machinery to aid in disaster relief efforts.

That barge will be loaded first light on Monday before departing that evening from Atlantic Caribbean Line’s port in Ft. Pierce, FL. It is expected to arrive in Haiti next Friday and will be used to transport medical and other supplies over and across rubble strewn streets.

SP says that you can donate by visiting www.samaritanspurse.org or calling (800) 528-1980. You can also give by texting “SP” to 85944 on your cell phone to donate $10. Keep in mind that the money SP derives from a text donation will not get to them until after you pay your cell phone bill. If you want to make an immediate impact then visit their website or call in your donation.

Source: Samaritan’s Purse

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He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done. (Proverbs 19:17)

Duane Zook, Global Chairman of Global Aid Network, prays for a young earthquake victim, whose mother and father could not be found.

The recent cataclysmic earthquake in Haiti has galvanized much of the world into action, an amazing response that includes a number of supernatural components including seeing the hearts of several world leaders moved (Proverbs 21:1). Though hundreds of thousands were killed, millions were spared with remarkable testimonies of survival being shared for many days afterward.

Did you know that when you help someone who is poor that you are directly making a loan to God? Not that God needs anything from us, but He has set things up in this world to work through the hands of women and men to take our ordinary talents and multiply them into extraordinary blessings to those who have nothing.

But God rewards us for our kindness to the poor whether they be someone who has been dug out of the rubble in Port-au-Prince; an orphaned child in a desolate, war-torn land; or an elderly neighbor who is desperately trying to hold onto her home. When you help the poor, you are ministering to God.

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. (Matthew 25:35, 36)

Clearly, God gives us many chances to help people who are impoverished physically, spiritually, or both. Even if the world was somehow a place where everyone’s temporal needs were taken care of, the spiritual need would remain.

But our world is far from being that comfortable place as wars, famine, disease, corrupt governments, and a host of other reasons conspire to keep people down. Yes, you will even have a group of people who simply will not work, but I am not talking about them. Untold millions are poor, needing to be ministered to, but the workers are few though the harvest is great.

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matthew 9:37-38)

You may not be called to go on a mission trip, but you certainly can be missional minded. That kind of thinking has you praying and taking action as the Lord leads, seeking for ways to make a difference in the lives of the poor, giving to God with the side benefit that you will be rewarded for your efforts.

Photo Credit: Global Aid Network (Campus Crusade for Christ)

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