Am I asking the right questions?

Like all of you, I’m not really sure what to do with all the chaos going on in Haiti right now. My heart is deeply moved for the massive loss and hurt that this dear country is going through. I find myself asking a ton of “why” questions. Why would this happen to the poorest country in the Western hemisphere? Why would this happen to a place that, seemingly, has zero resources and infastructure? Why would God allow this to happen (not really sure He had anything to do with it but the question still comes to mind)?  Why did this happen to a country that’s so difficult to physically get into and help?

The questions keep surfacing for me.

I just got off the phone with a dear friend of mine who lost a Haitian friend he and his family made when they went to Haiti a couple of years ago.  As you can imagine, his heart is braking.  It’s more than a CNN news story but real people and real loss.

Instead of the “why” questions, I wonder if there are a better set of questions to be asking right now. Maybe we need to be asking more “what” kinds of questions?  What can I do?  What do I have to offer that can bring some form of relief to Haiti?  What kind of influence do I have that can rally people to help?  For us at Watershed we decided to react to the “what” questions first.  I think the “why” questions are necessary and very important but asking why does not fix the immediate needs right now.  So, let’s put some of the good questions on hold for now and ask, “What can I do?”

Every agency or organization that I hear talk about the needs seem to address financial resources and skilled medical workers.  For most of us we don’t have medical training but we do have a few resources with which to respond.  At Watershed we made sizable contributions to two organizations that we have personal experiences with: WorldHelp and Love Haiti.  We also invited our Watershed community to personally do something of consequence to either one of these reputable organizations.

While doing something that addresses the “what” questions may not answer the “why” questions, we can at least bring some help and relief and deal with the other questions later on.

Although I don’t think the only answer is money, I’m proud to be a part of the global Church that’s reaching out to Haiti in a beautiful way!