Ian Mattoon

Recently I watch the last sermon given by Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill Church in Seattle.  In the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti, rather than continue with his normal activities, Pastor Mark traveled there on a fact finding mission for the organization Churches Helping Churches. What they experienced there, and the footage that they captured, is haunting and moving.  I have heard how bad the situation is on the news, but the buffer that is provided between reality and fiction by the media is hard to overcome.  Clips of news stories cannot grab your attention or mind like an hour+ sermon.  It gives your mind a chance to really grapple with the situation down there, to allow yourself to be effected by it.  People there need help, and while we argue over who to help, and how much to give, and who is responsible for helping, I am sobered by this verse.

Not only do we have a duty to help those in need, but we have a duty to help out brothers and sisters in Christ.  Many have lost their families, their homes, and their churches; the places they would normally turn to when faced with the lost of the previous.  We help them first, not to be inclusive (or exclusive, depending on how you look at it) but because this is how we can show the love that exists inside of our family.  Others in Haiti will see us loving our bothers and sisters (who are helping their fellow Haitians) and want to be apart of that family too!  And they can!

So if you haven’t given to help Haiti yet, do it, I suggest Churches Helping Churches.