Read Scottsdale Bible’s letter to Food for the Hungry.
Dear Member/Friend of Scottsdale Bible,
As most all of us have been watching on the news, Haiti has been devastated by a massive earthquake. Port-au-Prince (a city of 2.5-3 million people) has been hit so hard that most people are without food, water and shelter. Initial estimates are that as many as 100,000 people have already died (and it could be much higher). Many people are still trapped beneath the rubble as rescue workers are trying to get to Haiti to provide help and relief.
We have received numerous calls and emails this week asking what we as a church can do. Please allow me to suggest a couple of things. First: pray. Pray for God’s protection, deliverance, relief and help. Just this morning as I was watching the news they highlighted a young woman rescued last night who had been trapped since Tuesday. As they were interviewing her about her time spent trapped under thousands of pounds of concrete, she said that she was praying to God constantly for help. She said that she has always been a woman of prayer and that it didn’t surprise her at all that God heard and answered her prayer. She was simply very thankful to Him. As we have seen with other catastrophes that have hit our world, God is in the habit of responding to His people when they pray. Pray as well that much of the aid that our country and private relief organizations are trying to get into Haiti will get through.
A second thing we can do is to support the relief efforts financially. The most immediate threat for all the survivors is lack of necessary and life-sustaining resources (food, water and shelter). Though our government is sending resources, there are some very solid and proven private relief organizations already on the ground in Port-au-Prince. One of the groups that Scottsdale Bible has had a great working relationship with for years is called “Food for the Hungry.” Based here in Phoenix, Food for the Hungry is a Christian relief organization that works with local churches and agencies in Haiti to provide on-going physical and spiritual resources. They have dozens of staff in Port-au-Prince currently and are poised to provide immediate and tangible help. You can check out their web site for more information if you would like at http://www.fh.org/haiti.
This Sunday, during and after our worship services, we will have representatives from Food for the Hungry available on the patio, outside the worship center. They can provide updates for you about what is happening in Haiti, as well as more information about what Food for the Hungry does. At the end of each worship service we will also be taking up our monthly “Elder’s Fund” offering that is usually used to help those in need right here in our church and community. The elders of Scottsdale Bible met last night and agreed to provide this month’s offering fully to Food for the Hungry for help with the Haiti crisis. If you come prepared to give, you can make your check out to “SBC” and mark “Haiti” in the memo line. We will then present one check from the church to Food for the Hungry early next week.
In only God’s sovereignty, before last Tuesday’s earthquake, I had already titled my message for this Sunday, “The Hands and Feet of God.” For months I have been planning to talk this Sunday about how the church (you and me) are God’s “hands and feet” to a world in need. I will be sharing that it is through service, expressed through our love and care, that we show Jesus to a lost world in need. What an opportunity we have this Sunday to immediately act on what we are going to hear. I look forward to seeing you this Sunday and worshipping with you.
Your friend and pastor,
Jamie
