In 2010 I was working on a computer project with the TV on in the background. Pictures of the devistation in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, were streaming by with more and more dire reports as more reporters came on seen.

A similar natural disaster hit a little more than 11 years earlier. About January 10, 1999 – I signed onto a group of Christians from my home church that were heading to Honduras to do what they could. It was a CAT 5 hurricane and destroyed homes, roads, farms and killed more than 13,000 people. We landed in the capital and bused south to Choluteca, Honduras. Our commitment was 50 houses with running water. It was raw land Nearby in the middle of nowhere, there were hundreds of people just living in tents and under blue tarps. Rapid response was our friend. We worked two hard weeks to get construction started and a follow-on organization to finish the project over the next 5 months. I learned quick and early response was a powerful tool when it comes to planting God long term in people’s lives.

Standing there watching the Haitian disaster unfold, it brought back a stream of strong memories – feeding hungry people, endless medical emergencies, finding food and water, and planting hope in survivors who could not yet tell it they were indeed going to survive. It brought back the heart aches I felt while doing relief work in Honduras.

Standing there in a flood of old memories, my phone rang. It was Dave G, a close friend and fellow responder to Honduras. He said “What are you doing” I said “Watching Haiti on the TV”. He said we need help to get thousands of dollars of meds to Haiti. I said when and he reply the morning after next. I said count me in.

If you serve God impromptu he will let you witness his mighty power first hand, still present now at was in Bible times. Meet the needs of people and he will provide the resources. What does Haiti have to do with Honduras?

Dave and I flew into the Dominican Republic and drove most of the night to a temporary hospital just on the Haiti-Dominican boarder. Hundreds of injured we spread out everywhere. It was the hardest week I have every spent anywhere. But those of us who responded that week were to see first hand how God plants hope. A number of Christian mission were planted that are still there today. The real miracle I think still to come. 10 more years I see the spread of Christianity that brings real hope and blessings by learning of Jesus’s love as Haitians exchange man’s failed philosophies for the hope and blessing God delivers. A very bad time delivered help and hope.