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Saturday, February 06, 2010 CW Weekly Devotional - "Fasting and Praying for Haiti" By laneglaze @ 9:32 PM :: 112 Views :: 0 Comments :: :: Weekly Devotional     Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and relents from punishing. Joel 2:12-13, NRSV   Throughout the story of God and God’s people as revealed in the Scriptures, the people of God signify their love for God through the practices of prayer and fasting.  One of many examples can be found in Joel’s famous prophetic text where he calls the people to return to a right relationship with the One who has created, redeemed and continually saved them – a good and gracious God indeed – through the spiritual disciplines of prayer and fasting. As the most recent sad chapter in the story of Haiti continues to unfold, several students within our ministry had an inspired idea. Given the complex historical and political challenges associated with Haiti and concerns about how to best be of help (as the story of the likely well-intentioned but now incarcerated group of missionaries from Idaho has reminded us), maybe the best way for us to be in solidarity with the Haitians is to pray and fast on their behalf?  Throughout this past week, a number of students have been doing just that, and I want to invite others of you (students and non-students alike) to do the same in the days and weeks ahead.  Next Sunday night (2/14) we plan to collect the first offering generated from students who have saved money by fasting from meals. (We plan to forward the funds to organizations who know how to make best use of it on the ground in Haiti.) As I peruse my own widening frame every morning after showering, I, like many of you, could benefit both physically and spiritually from spending time praying rather than eating a meal every day or two. If you’d like to fast but are not sure how to do it safely, let me know and I’ll be happy to give you some tips.   While on the subject of Haiti, I received the following reflection piece from my good Bahamian friend, Shaun Ingraham, who has been working with Habitat for Humanity International in Port-au-Prince over the last few weeks.  Shaun has tremendous experience working with crises such as this one in Haiti and has spent the better part of the last 18 years in disaster relief and recovery work. Given his first-hand knowledge of relief and recovery done well and not so well (as has been so often the case historically in Haiti), I will continue to consult Shaun about how we as Americans might best be able to help in Haiti without creating or contributing to the sense of dependency and entitlement and societal chaos that often results from foreign aid infusions.  I hope you find Shaun’s perspective helpful as you, your family and your faith community continue to keep the people of Haiti in your prayers.  Shaun entitled this essay, “Layer Upon Layer”:   As we continued our tour today, the big question was, “How can we heal Haiti?” Will Haiti get the support that it needs to pull through this period and emerge a more economically stable country? Or, will the world quickly forget it once the cameras turn to the next sensational news item?   Is this indeed Haiti’s time to turn “lemons into lemonade?”   As I rode and discussed this with my host, we suspected there is more than one issue that has to be considered if this is to happen. While having lunch, the observation was made that it was like peeling an onion.Some of these challenges included:   A Crumbling Infrastructure It is reported that at least one hundred boats now wait off the coast to land their cargo at Port a Prince. It is depressing to know that some of this cargo just might be canvass tents, food, bedding, water and/or clothing. Or, do they have on board heavy machinery, excavators, front-end loaders, vehicles, building materials and/or medical supplies? In any event, whenever they arrive they will not be a moment too soon.   A journey from Pignon to Port a Prince that is approximately 60 miles takes 4 hours to travel. Leaving travelers sore and tired. Clogged road ways with traffic jams that delay workers for hours, thus cutting into productivity.   An Acute Brain Drain Each year thousands of Haitians leave their homes in search of a better way of life. Some end up in New York, Canada, France, and others in Miami. They travel to give their children “a better way of life.” All of our hosts are quick to point out that they have no plans to leave. They feel like Haiti needs them. What would happen if Haiti began a Come Back Home Programme? Will the diaspora return to apply their skills to the economic, political, educational and cultural institutions? What about the Haitian nurses and doctors abroad? I have seen the local ones working in some of the most adverse of conditions.   Seventy-five Percent Unemployment Can any country survive with this crippling statistic? While this percentage points to the number of individuals that do not have a paying job or who pay taxes, it does not mean that Haitians do not work hard. Each morning, men, women and children gather beside the street with their goods to sell to those passing by. Some have fruit and vegetables, others have phone cards, and still others sell flowers at the local flower market. Today at one of the collapsed buildings, two stories high, I saw a man about the age of 32 sluggishly swing a sledge hammer at the tie beam, a task that in a more modern society is reserved for heavy machinery. His comrade had a hacksaw diligently working on cutting away the rebar that held the huge chunks of concrete together. Not sure how this ended, but I am willing to guess that they didn’t accomplish much and will have to return tomorrow and the next day and maybe even for a week to complete a task for which they get paid two dollars a day.   A Lack of Misunderstanding by the World If you travel to Haiti and meet the local people, visit their homes and see the beauty of the beaches and hills, immediately the doom and gloom and hopelessness that we often see on television is replaced by Spirit-filled people who refuse to give up; people that are proud of their history, even if they have sometimes been punished for it and by it.   A friend of mine when he heard that I was traveling to Haiti asked me to deliver something to a friend of his that worked at a hotel in Haiti. Upon pulling up to the hotel, I soon realized that this could have been on a beach in Bermuda, Bahamas or Cayman Islands. It was beautiful. Most of all it was owned and operated by locals. As I inquired about this facility the driver informed me that just recently a former US President had stayed there on his visit to Haiti.   Our conversations went on for hours as we sat in the midday traffic. We pointed out some obvious as well as not so obvious problems. I kept pushing the driver, who did not always understand my Bahamian English, to help me come up with solutions. I wanted to understand and know Haiti.   His response was, “It is not easy to understand our problems.” He suggested that one had to be an insider to understand. I began to agree with him. As I peeled away one layer, another one appeared.   Tomorrow we will travel into the city again and continue to seek strategic ways to carry out our mission. I am sure of one thing, there are no easy answers and no quick solutions. We are in this one for the long run…   May God continue to bless the Haitian people at this time, and may God begin to open our eyes as Americans to the ways in which our lives and theirs are forever (in this life and the life to come) interconnected. lane Rev. C. Lane Glaze Director, Clemson Wesley Campus Minister, Clemson UMC PO Box 1703 Clemson SC 29633 864-654-5547 (o) and 864-207-9135 (cell) www.clemsonwesley.com   Feel free to forward this email to a friend. The Clemson Wesley Weekly Devotional is a ministry of the Clemson Wesley Foundation, the United Methodist Church’s ministry to students on the campus of Clemson University. The purpose of this email is to look at issues relevant to the life of Clemson students through the lens of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you would like your name added to this list, email Rev. Lane Glaze at glaze@clemson.edu.

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