Well it happened again. Everytime I watch the news and see the suffering of the people of Haiti, tears fall from my face. I hear yet another astonishing story of how someone survived against all odds, and another person did not. We pray for God's mercy and strength to be with every person who is suffering because of the earthquake there. Our prayers go out to all of the people of Haiti, and to all of those who are working right now to bring them food, water, shelter, medical care and provide security. May the Lord let the people of Haiti know that all over the world, their brothers and sisters in Christ are lifting them in prayer. One of the images from the early reporting sticks in my mind. A reporter asked a family who was waiting for food and water when they expected help to arrive, and their answer will stick with me always, they replied, "When God shows up." The United Methodist Church is being given the opportunity through our connectional system to use it as a means of streamlining support to funnel it to Haiti. Health kits, supplies for children, volunteers and funds are all on the way. I am so proud to know that we have volunteers on the ground right now working in Haiti. We mourn the loss of Rev. Sam Dixon who headed the UMCOR agency. While he was there to work on improving the health care system in Haiti, and was trapped for 55 hours in the rubble, and we are so sorry to learn that he died for the cause he believed in, helping people in the name of Christ. We honor his 32 years of service in the NC Conference and we mourn with his family and with all those who are grieving the loss of loved ones, and for those who still have not received word whether their relatives are alive.
We challenge the United Methodist Church to put their hands in action to help make a difference at the local level by taking up a special offering for Haiti through UMCOR, and for doing hands on projects like putting together health kits. We will have to work quickly because time is of the essence. We have a drop off site coming to Clemmons UMC which is near us, one day next week. We are asking our church family to go by the list we have provided in the bulletin, which came from the conference website, on what to put inside the health kits. We have people from the church wanting to go to Haiti to volunteer. If you are interesting in becoming a volunteer, the reply back from Rev. Mike Collins our mission coordinator for the conference is to go to this site: www.umvim.org/haiti. We pray for him and all of his team who are lauching a huge campaign of support to get help to those who need it most. In the worst of times, God can use this to bring out the best in us. May the name of Christ be praised by the way we respond to the needs of the world around us. Let them know we are Christians by our love. Do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.
Rev . Evelyn Lemons
Let's pray our way forward
Let the children come to me. Jesus
