Tell The Mountains To Move
E:60 Haiti Soccer
I saw this last night on ESPN and there were parts in this video that I teared up in because it touched me. There is no reason people should even have to live like this. Breaks my heart for what I take for granted when they have nothing. They have lost everything and for them there appears to be no hope. It is an 11 minute video but it is worth watching every second of it. Below is the link to the video because it is not able to be embedded on my blog.
E:60 tells the story of the Haitian under-17 girls’ team, from the welcoming arms of the Dominican Republic and Panama for training, then Costa Rica for the CONCACAF tournament and back home to Haiti.
Would love to hear your thoughts on this.
Difference Maker: Shaun King
Ok let’s be honest, we hear all the time that one person can make a difference, but is that just something we say to encourage and motivate people, or do we really believe that? I completely believe it and I can prove it. I want to introduce you to Shaun King. He’s a 30 Year Old Husband, Father, Grad Student & Lead Pastor of The Courageous Church (www.Courageous.tv) in Downtown Atlanta, and he is making a difference.
I started to follow Shaun over a year ago as I heard he had planted a church in one of the toughest neighborhoods in Atlanta and I had a chance to meet and talk with him at Catalyst [although I am pretty sure he would have no remembrance of me]. The things that stood out about this man was his humility and his willingness to talk to someone who is pretty insignificant in the global perspective of the church world. One minute with him and you can tell his passion and excitement. I highly recommend following him on his many social networks. Below is a list of the tweets that he made last night about what is going on in Haiti. Shaun is using Twitter to mobilize, impact and create an awareness in Haiti and it is incredibly impressive.
- Setting out my Soapbox. About to step on it for a few tweets. 1st my opinions then quotes from leaders on the ground in Haiti
- ALL OF THE EXPERTS ARE DEAD WRONG…..
- When the earthquake 1st hit, thousands of you immediately wanted to go and help BE the solution, be the hands & feet of God…
- But you were told by the experts NOT TO COME. You were told to wait until some magical time when things were much better…
- The experts were wrong. Some probably meant well because they didn’t want you to get hurt or be in the way, but let me tell you what…
- Is missing in Haiti -passionate, hard-working, unskilled, loving, non-experts. They are in SHORT SUPPLY. I mean RARE…
- Consequently, the MAJORITY of supplies are sitting unused & the teams of unskilled non-experts I am advising are regularly…
- 9 days later, regularly the first people to have ever visited orphanages and disaster sites. They ALL tell me that we should have…
- IGNORED the experts. Let me tell you a story that will kill you. The caretaker of the Notre Dame orphanage told @SpenceNix…
- She heard dozens of dying babies trapped in the rubble scream & cry for 5 whole days before they all died. 55 babies died. Nobody ever came…
- One more tweet from me then I want to type you a quote from our team on the ground…
- It is NOT TOO LATE. If you feel CALLED to go to Haiti GO. GO! GOOOO! It is tough work, but GO! I will help you…
- Next tweets are direct from our teams on the ground…
- “The growing feeling here in Haiti is that the BIG ORGS & government don’t really care. It’s like they are here b/c the world is…
- focused here. If they care, little passion is ever displayed. Seems like a job or obligation. Even my sponsoring organization…
- (name of large Christian org) pretty much just set up a tent, gave us a vest and stickers and said go. No support. No passion. No questions…
- Large amounts of supplies are just sitting in boxes everywhere. I have seen them there for days while hurting people & doctors…
- Need them. This has opened my eyes wider to the wastefulness of large charities and benefit of small, nimble, passionate groups…
- I have been in Haiti for 6 days and I still have not seen one large Red Cross presence. I honestly think social media has…
- Saved more lives since the earthquake than all but 3-4 great organizations here now. Passion. Relationships. Technology has changed…
- the game. We saved so many lives today and it was just us doing it bro.” <<<<<End of quote
- Thanks for listening.
Thought it was incredible to hear hands on what is going on in Haiti and see one person making a difference. How can you make a difference in your circle of influence and in the world?
Haitians In The Aftermath
I was asked today, “What happened in Haiti?” I thought they were kidding. This is being called potentially the worst natural disaster to ever hit. An estimated 500,000 people could be dead. The government has lost a majority of their leadership. Hospitals, government buildings, businesses and homes destroyed. Food and clean water running out. No medical attention is able to be given, there are very few medical personal still alive. Power is mostly out. Communication is down. What can be done?
Prayer and support. Several churches are starting to mobilize efforts to work together or work with organizations to make a difference and help.
“To whom much is given, much is expected.” If you are able to help and are interested in helping, below are several links and ideas to help make a small difference in Haiti.
On CNN, Anderson Cooper interviewed singer Wyclef and they are starting donations through texting YELE to 501 501 It will donate $5 to start…
I know there are several more than this. These are a few that I came across or have heard of. I know that as a church we are putting a plan in place to be rolled out through our blog or Facebook soon.
