Then the Earthquake Hit

One of the goals of my most recent trip to Haiti was to show the school children how to jump rope. I think you can tell from their smiles that that they really appreciated my willingness to demonstrate my skills.

I returned from Haiti two weeks ago, laying more projects groundwork. Met with those who will be administrating our feeding program and have been seeking wisdom and counsel of those familiar with Haitian culture and who’ve had experience with various types of feeding programs. Please pray for this, as we want to get it right. Hungry kids who could care less, really, about logistics and accounting just want a good meal now and again. And yet, logistics and accounting and accountability structures and hiring workers and fuel sources and eating utensils and security… all this and more we must get right or the food won’t land in their stomachs. (Get this… on average, every hour one Haitian child dies as a direct or indirect result of starvation).

Starfysh is still awaiting official “non-profit” designation by the IRS. Until then, and while we wait, we are holding off on any major fundraising efforts. (On one hand, it makes me nervous, because the first day of school in Haiti is just eleven weeks away, and we want so badly to give the kids a good meal. As we wait some donations are trickling in, which is nice. Thank you.) We did hear about our application from the IRS a couple of weeks ago. They contacted us with some very minor technical stuff, which we see as a good sign… i.e., that they apparently have no issues with the substantive stuff we submitted. Another topic for which I would appreciate your prayers.

I cannot tell you how many times people have asked me something like, “Are things improving in Haiti?” My response, many times, has been to quote Wes Stafford, president of Compassion, International, when he said,

“Haiti was home to one of the worst disasters of our time. Then the earthquake hit.”

Pray for Haiti. Haiti’s issues are so complex, so deep, and so entrenched. No government can fix her. Not the U.N. Not Bono. Not Jack Bauer. Money won’t fix her. Not even Oprah can fix Haiti. Only God can fix Haiti.

So pray for Haiti.