Being God's hands in Haiti

Yesterday, a reader commented on our Facebook page that she thought it was ironic that this week's ec devotions all dealt with the idea of injustice and what we as Christians can do to fight it when the nation of Haiti was trying to pick up from the devastation of an earthquake.

We planned those devotions months ago. A writer took wrote the devotions; we edited them, Jen (our graphic designer) made them look good; and we sent the magazine off to the printer. Months and months ago. But God, being who He is, knew exactly which truths from His Word we would need to hear this week. It's not just a coincidence that this week's devos deal with fighting injustice; that's just God.

But the fact of the devastation in Haiti remains. Orphanages are in shambles; families are separated; food, water, and basic supplies have been hard to come by. The pictures break our hearts. Children in pain. Mothers who have lost all of their children. People who don't know if their family members are alive, hurt, or dead. Fathers holding sick babies. Morgues full of lifeless bodies. Poverty. Need. Hunger.

In Matthew 25, Jesus told us that whatever we did to help “the least of these,” was also something we did for Him (Matt. 25:40-45). It's clear from the whole of Scripture that as believers we're to help others as we can. And today, the people of Haiti need help.

The International Mission Board recently told us this:

“Southern Baptists are mobilizing to assess disaster relief needs after the largest earthquake in more than 200 years rocked Haiti the evening of Jan. 12.

“The initial Southern Baptist disaster relief effort will be led by Florida Baptists, who have had ministry relationships in Haiti for more than 20 years and currently have six staff members who live and work in the country, said Jim Brown, U.S. director for Baptist Global Response (BGR), a Southern Baptist relief and development organization. The International Mission Board does not have long-term personnel stationed in the country.

“Initial funding for the relief effort will be provided by the IMB’s disaster relief fund which operates on a “dollar in, dollar out” basis, which means that 100% of the money donated is used to provide disaster relief. Contributions to the relief effort can be made online at gobgr.org

“Apart from donating to the disaster relief effort via gobgr.org, you can help greatly by joining in focused prayer for Haiti’s 9 million people, more than 80 percent of whom live below the poverty line, said David Brown, who with his wife, Jo, directs BGR work in the Americas.” (To see the full article, click here.)

You can speak hope into the lives of people in need. You can be an example to the world of how much God loves us. Even if you are just a teenager!

For more information on how to give, see Jen's latest “Music Minute.”

Thoughts from Martin Luther King

If you read the print version of ec, you'll know that this week's devos are all about injustice. Today, many of you are out of school in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., a man who saw injustice in his world and fought against it.


So this MLK Day, we invite you to learn a little more about him and ponder what it means for you as a believer to be a peacemaker in this world.

Dr. King was arrested 30 times for participating in civil rights activities. Some of his major speeches include “I Have a Dream”; the eulogy for the victims of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing in Birmingham, Ala.; the acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964; the address after the march from Selma, Ala., to Montgomery, Ala.; and one in letter form to religious leaders of the city of Birmingham called “The Letter From Birmingham Jail.”


Thoughts on Justice from Martin Luther King Jr.:
“I refuse to accept the view that man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him….”1

“Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation.”2

“On some positions, cowardice asks the question, is it expedient? And then expedience comes along and asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? Conscience asks the question, is it right? There comes a time when one must take the position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must do it because conscience tells him it is right.”3

1. Clayborne Carson and Kris Shepard, eds., A Call to Conscience: The Landmark Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr., (New York: Warner Books, Inc., 2001), 107.
2. Clayborne Carson, ed., The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr., (New York: Warner Books, Inc., 1998), 196.
3. MLK Jr.’s speech delivered at the National Cathedral, Washington, D.C., on 31 March 1968 and quoted in “Remaining Awake through a Great Revolution,” The Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute [online], cited 20 August 2009. Available from the Internet: http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/kingpapers/article/remaining_awake_through_a_great_revolution/.

The Injustice Issue

It’s not fair!

Oh how I love those words! I use them when I’m prevented from doing something I want or when I think someone else is getting an honor or privilege I think I deserve. But most often, I fall back on that phrase when I lose or don’t do as well on something as I think I should have.

Obviously, my sense of fairness is sometimes a little skewed—and a little selfish. But there are things in this world that aren’t fair. Things like discrimination and racism and poverty. It’s truly not right that we live in a world with such a marked difference between the haves and have-nots. It’s not fair that there are children in Africa who have been forced to serve as soldiers in a war they never wanted. It’s not fair that as I write this column, there are people being sold as modern-day slaves. There are things in this world that are unjust and wrong. But what do they have to do with us?

Everything, actually. As believers, we serve a God of love. He has shown us infinite love and mercy by giving up His Son so that He could have a relationship with each one of us. But so often, we downplay another characteristic of God: His justice. God is just. He does what is right, and He cannot accept the things that are wrong or sinful. And then there’s the example of Jesus who ate with sinners, touched lepers, and talked to the people everyone else shunned. God hates injustice; it is against His very character. And in Jesus, He’s shown us exactly how He wants our lives to look. We’re to be the people who fight injustice in this world. We’re supposed to be the ones who love our neighbors more than ourselves and put their needs before our own. If we truly lived like that, think about the difference it would make. Would there be as much poverty? Racism? Discrimination?

In this month’s issue of ec, that’s what we want to challenge you to think about and live out in your daily life. You’ll find that challenge in Lindsey Dugue’s cover story, “Fighting the Good Fight” on page 34. You’ll see it in Bryan Daniel’s Q&A about the time he spent in Uganda with Invisible Children. We’ll push you to put your focus on God and His character through devotions, Ryan Vermilyea’s article on page 8, and features about God’s view of success and eternity. It is our hope that when you close this issue, you’re changed. Not by anything we’ve written or edited, but by the God who created you—and everyone in this world—and loves each one of us dearly. We pray that you are changed by the God who always knew that having a relationship with us would cost Him dearly. And when you look at the world, we hope that you begin to see it through His eyes—as a world that can be radically changed by His love. And you have a part to play in that. Will you?