Haiti/Good Samaritan – The Sequel
I know we’ve spoken about Haiti a lot. And I know I already used the “Love your neighbor” part. But I wanted us to take one more look at a different part of the story.
“He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.'”
– Luke 10:34-35
God has been pursuing my heart with this passage for quite a while now and here is what I have learned. We don’t just need to give while the disaster is on the news. Haiti is going to be in desperate need for a long time. A tragedy like this can cripple this country and its people. There will be people hungry and without homes long after this has faded back to its regular place in the news behind the celebrity watching and sports highlights. Rebuilding lives takes time. But most of us will text in our donation to the Red Cross and go on about our lives. That is not a condemnation of you. It’s just how our society works. It’s how I work. My heart is stirred for a moment and on my good days, I act in that moment. But then I am re-consumed with my own life, my own needs, my own problems.
The Samaritan in the story provides for the future. He took the man somewhere he could be cared for. And then provided enough money to ensure that care. With a promise he would return with more if needed.
I hope these are the kind of investments we can make in Haiti. An investment that says, “I see your hurt on the TV and I am giving to help. But my heart is now connected to yours. I will continue to provide for you. I will invest in your hope and your future. You are a child of my Father and I will not abandon my brother to hopelessness.”
As always, World Vision is one way you can do this. You can make a commitment to give and to keep giving to the relief effort. You can sponsor a child in Haiti and invest in their future that way. Some of us who gave in the moment may need to commit that $10 every month for the next year, or two years. Give wherever you are comfortable: World Vision, Compassion, the Red Cross, Unicef. Just give. We need to place things in our lives like alarm clocks that will remind us days and weeks down the road that the people in Haiti still need us. There are many ways God will call us to love our neighbor and keep loving them. I look forward to hearing your stories of how He loves through you.
Todd