Wrath of God or Nature’s Fury?

Recently a popular conservative personality commented that (something to the effect of) the earthquake in Haiti was from God because of the heathen nature of the disbelief of the Haitians. Ironically, on ebay the next day a quick thinking entrepreneur had voodoo dolls that resembled the outspoken conservative. Now, I think that is downright funny. No, I do not think the voodoo is funny; no, the inappropriate comment was not funny. Capitalizing on a major gaff is funny to me.

Personally, I think that God gets blamed for things He had nothing to do with. Hold on to your chairs, I didn’t say that God has no control over things that occur. But I think all too often, when people do stupid things; God is blamed. God does not cause a drunk driver to mow down a family of four with his car and walk away unharmed while a family is devastated with the death of four. That was the stupid behavior of one person. God does not cause massive landslides that destroy hundreds of homes; stupid people build on mountainsides without consideration that the earth is not set in concrete. God did not cause the people of Haiti to strip their land of all foliaged (setting themselves up for disaster) or even build on an island that was created by an earthquake. But in the midst of all those examples, God can work and He can be glorified.

On about day 3 or 4 after the Haitian earthquake at least one news network captured homeless, hungry, devastated Haitians singing and praising God (I want to believe that perhaps they were brother and sister Nazarene Christians). Less than a week after the quake shanty towns were being reconstructed and families coming together to eat (yes, eat). It appeared to be fruits and vegetables, perhaps a wandering chicken that met her fate, but as in the church of old, they came together and shared all that they had. A postal worker pulled, alive, from the ruins on day 6; immediately began to sing praises.

Please to not assume that I am overlooking the massive destruction of mankind in Haiti. No, I realize that tens of thousands lost their lives. But I am not about to “blame” that on God. Yes, I recognize that the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere was dealt a devastating blow. But want an opportunity for Christian nations to come to the aid of these dear people. What an opportunity for compassionate ministry. What an opportunity for self-less giving and unconditional love. I pray that our nation will not fail to show the love of God to a country that is many ways is Godless. But please remember that there are many, many God fearing and God loving Haitians. There are approximately 118,000 Haitian Nazarenes. There is a huge number of Catholic believers in the small nation. Yes, there are also heathens, voodoo believers, and devil-worshippers. But it may surprise you to know that the same live among us in the U.S. We are no longer a God-worshiping nation. Please do not let that statement escape you. We have a ripe mission field in our neighborhoods.

An update on the Church of the Nazarene in Haiti from the Nazarene Communication Network: http://www.ncnnews.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?sid=10000023&id=10008866

A continuing report: Nazarene churches affected by Haiti earthquake
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Nazarene Compassionate Ministries-Caribbean continues to receive sporadic reports from Nazarene churches in Haiti due to limited lines of communication from a country which remains devastated from the January 12 earthquake.

Haiti South Central District
The district superintendent reports 17 churches are down and many pastor’s houses have been destroyed.

Central District
The Nazarene church in Boutin is reported to be down.

Tabarre
The Tabarre church reports eight people injured and many members have lost their houses.

Bel-Air
The Nazarene church of Bel-Air has many of their members missing. There is still no report on the total amount of people that have died here, but there are three that have been confirmed dead.

Lastic
The Nazarene church of Lastic knows of one member still considered missing. Her house is down and they have not been able to find her.

Petion-Ville
The Petion-Ville Church of the Nazarene reports they have lost members and 75 percent of the church’s members have lost their homes.

Additional Reports
People remain sleeping outside their houses in fear that they may collapse on them. There are homes that are still up, but damaged. After the first earthquake there was a damaged house which later collapsed and killed six people on Delmas road.

Food is becoming scarce and water is hard to get. Diesel is also running out.

While at this time it is hard to tell how many members the Church of the Nazarene in Haiti has lost, there is still hope as there have been reports people are being pulled out of the rubble still alive.

This is the time to continue to pray that God would give strength to those holding onto life and hope they may be found quickly. Continue to pray that food and water gets to the people and that God would give them strength during this time.

Haiti: How to help
–Franckel Formetus, Haiti Church of the Nazarene Statistician, for Nazarene Compassionate Ministries-Caribbean (Slideshow available. Photos courtesy of Franckel Formetus)

Please go to http://www.ncm.org/haitiearthquake to see how you can help. And pray for this island nation and those who minister to her people.