I did not follow the story of the Baptists who allegedly attempted to take children out of Haiti. I think I can understand the desire to help the children of Haiti. It is clear upon visiting Haiti that there are many children without a place to sleep and without the essentials of life. One statistic I read says that as many as one out of every seven Haitian children is an orphan. I can’t begin to get my mind around this. But, we did have a personal experience that demonstrated the desperation. As Mario Trevilla and I were in the Dominican Republic entering into Haiti we stopped to take a picture along an almost deserted strip of road. Mario was approached by an older man and asked if he wanted a baby. The older man explained that the mother had taken off weeks before, leaving her baby with him. He said he had no idea what to do with the baby. As Mario walked back to the vehicle and told me the story, our eyes welled up with tears. Yes, of course, we would want to take care of such a child. Yes, we would want this baby to have a future. It seemed clear that this little one would not live unless someone took the baby from this man. Our hearts longed to say “Yes!”, but we knew we had to say “No!” We would not be allowed to do this. Haiti is such a place where your heart leaps from your chest calling you act. Yet, there are many times when you know you cannot. We believe that God loves each child, every one is precious in his sight, made in God’s image, and of inestimable value.
What is Granada doing to help? In addition to providing food to earthquake refugees, we will be working to build a new orphanage during the coming months. We expect to have teams assist in the work and to also build a church and a school on the same property to meet the physical, spiritual, educational, and emotional needs of the children. The news from this week is that the feeding program is going ahead and another container will be unloaded this week. We expect to assist in the shipping of one container each week with food and medicines needed to support the mission. Please pray for these efforts and for safety for those involved in the planning and execution of these projects. We expect to begin organizing teams to go as soon as air transportation opens into Port-au-Prince.
Please check with Granada’s Serve the World team office if you would be willing to go to Haiti this spring or summer.