When Generosity Hurts

Giving is good. Giving is noble. Giving is taught in the Bible as being a better act than receiving. I am a proponent for giving, and I regularly encourage people to give as much as they can. When a certain country suffers a natural calamity like an earthquake or a nasty typhoon, it is common to see the media issuing calls for help, and for people to provide financial or food aid. The aims and results of generosity are in general very helpful. In fact, giving is often the chief way to show that we care for one another. We stand in solidarity with one another to live a better life.

Yet, there are situations when generosity hurts more than helps. It is when our giving and our generosity is based on erroneous thinking. A missionary couple in Haiti recently issued a plea to the American Church not to send peanut butter to Haiti. In a sermon, one American pastor for all his good intention, pledged his church to donate 28000 jars of peanut butter to Haiti. The logic is that the typical diet of Haitians shows a lack of protein, and peanut butter is a rich source of protein. Unfortunately, this good intention creates more problems. Generosity of this kind hurts more than helps.

Firstly, it hurts the peanut industry in Haiti. Peanuts are big sources of income for Haitian farmers. More than 66% of Haiti's employment is in the agricultural sector. Imagine what will happen if 28000 jars of peanut butter comes from the USA free for Haitians? What will happen to local peanut sales?

Secondly, it hurts the jobs. If the farmers cannot sell his produce to cover his costs, he cannot pay his workers. If workers are not paid, they have no income to pay for his bills. When unemployment rises, the dependence on foreign aid continues. This then causes a dependence on more donations.

Thirdly, it cuts away any incentive to develop the local resilience. What may be cheap to produce in the rich West may not be so for local economy. Any economy that has gone through a disastrous calamity will be extremely fragile. Giving may help in the short term. However, for the sake of Haiti, long-term considerations are key.

Proverbs teach us that:

"The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him." (Prov 18:17)

In giving, what we feel is right at the beginning, may be based on erroneous data or information. It is crucial that whenever a foreign party wants to help, ask before giving. Ask for help before attempting to help. Ask for advice. Ask for counsel from wise sources. Sources like missionaries who have been living in the country of concern. Ask for advice from people familiar with the economy, the political scene. Best of all, help through the people who the organization is familiar with.

conrade
p/s This reflection is inspired by Corrigan Clay's blog here.

Haiti

The statistics are grim. While the January 12th earthquake in Haiti has taken more than 150,000 lives, it has displaced more than 3 million people in Haiti. In fact, there are many internationals still unaccounted for, and many counted as among the dead. The suffering in Haiti raises again the question of suffering and pain. People continue to ask questions like:

• Where is God?
• What is the point of all this pain and grief?
• What is God trying to tell us?
• Is evil the winner after all?
  
• Isn't God in control?
• What did Haiti do to deserve the earthquake?
  
• Why God?
  

Both sensible as well as insensitive comments have been made. The infamous insensitive one is by the American TV evangelist, Pat Robertson who dares suggest that the Haiti quake is a 'blessing in disguise.' Suppose the most ardent supporter of Robertson may claim he is speaking some 'truth,' the timing of the statement is grossly inappropriate. Here is the list of some writings about the Haiti quake from notable thinking evangelicals.

1) "The Devil in Haiti" (Richard Mouw, President Fuller Theological Seminary)
Clearly a vigorous reaction against Robertson, Mouw argues that it is NOT God's will for earthquakes like this to happen.

2) "Why Lord? Haiti and the God Question" Dr. J. Kameron Carter, (Associate Professor, Duke Divinity School)
Carter adds a disclaimer saying that he does not like these questions. The problem he says lies in the 'way' the questions are worded, and the 'presuppositions' behind each one. He gives an insightful comment that this question 'prevents us from asking other important social, cultural and political questions.'

3)  "Does God Hate Haiti?" (Albert Mohler, President, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary)
Mohler addresses the problem in two ways. Firstly, that Haiti is already some form of a political disaster. Secondly, he warns us that "The arrogance of human presumption is a real and present danger." He calls for all, not just Haitians to remember that all are groaning under sin.

4) "God Bless the People of Haiti" (Roy Ciampa, Professor, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary)
Ciampa chooses to focus on the faith of the Haitians, and pray that God will strengthen and encourage the people there, who have lost possessions and people.

5) "Where was God in the Earthquake?" (Fleming Rutledge, popular preacher)
Rutledge gives a thoughtful theological view. In it, she helps us avoid asking the wrong questions, both theologically and pastorally. Pastorally, she says that anyone who claims 'God has a reason' is both 'cruel and heartless.' The best answer is "We do not know."

6) Christianity Today's Special Section on Haiti
If you are keen to explore further the issues on Haiti, this section is a helpful collection of articles, news updates and places where you can give to the cause of helping Haiti.

My Comments
Almost all of the above are in some ways a counter-response to Pat Robertson's infamous TV interview. Yet, I find it quite a sad situation when the media generally remembers Pat Robertson's words more than other thoughtful views as listed above. Why should any one focus on one tiny part of the Christian community and then use that to label the rest of the evangelicals? My feel is that 'balanced reporting' remains a challenge. Kudos to all those who have given an alternative reading to the Haiti question. I am also appreciative of those who chose to withhold comments and focus instead on the immediate help and relief. May are doing that right now.

However, there are people asking real questions about pain and suffering. The Haiti earthquake is but another opportunity to wrestle with this. We can avoid it, but eventually we have to face it. Even though the question is hard, even impossible to answer, it highlights the limits of our human strengths. I have written a theological commentary of the Haiti question last week. I hesitated about blogging it here at that time, choosing instead to put in on my Facebook account, limited to friends. I might publish it here later this week. For now, I concentrate on directing energies not to philosophies about suffering, but on listing people and organizations on how to help.

conrade

Haiti - Give to Small Guys First!

This is an insider update and a plea plea from Corrigan & Shelly Clay, a pair of Regent-College graduates currently serving in Haiti. They have witnessed the aftermath of the devastating earthquake with gut wrenching details. I have extracted some of their updates and placed it here for your reference, your convenience and hopefully your action. Here are my quick notes from their blog.

1. We get a lot of news from big media. Sometimes, they drown out the small voices who are most needy. This is an appeal by a pair of Regent-College graduates, Corrigan & Shelley Clay, who are serving in Haiti. A key note from them is this; "GIVE TO THE SMALL GUYS FIRST especially those already inside Haiti, LARGE ORGANIZATIONS LATER." :
   
   
2. The situation is deteriorating fast and things are even more desperate. Help must be immediate.
   
   
3. Corrigan has advice us to give to the smaller organizations who are already there. You can Google for the small guys, or give to the ones he mentioned in the blog.
   
   
4. For your convenience, I have the websites of the mentioned small guys here:

• Apparent Project website here. (www.apparentproject.org)
• Livesays (http://livesayhaiti.blogspot.com/)
• Real Hope for Haiti (https://www.realhopeforhaiti.org/)
• Heartline ministries (http://heartlineministries.org/default.aspx)

For your benefit, I have edited a short brief version below. The original version is after that. As the Spirit leads, I believe you will find time later to read the full version which is an insider's view of what is happening.

From their blog update.

============== BRIEF VERSION =================

HOW TO HELP

"The VERY best way to help right now is to get food, water, and medical supplies to haiti. IT needs to come now. I don't know how to do that, but if you have an airplane, I do hear that the US has taken over the airport and is letting things through.

The second best thing would be to give money to SMALL non-profit organizations like ours (The APparent Project), the Livesays, Real Hope for Haiti, Heartline ministries, or people like that. Make sure they are staying in country first. Many missionaries are evacuating, at which point your donations don't get to the need as quickly. . .

So to recap: Donate heavily to small organizations now (use google to find them)

and then donate to the bigger people and organize trips to Haiti to help in the following months (BUT ONLY IF YOU CAN BE SELF SUSTAINED WHILE HERE!) All aid workers need to bring their own food and water for the duration of their stay, otherwise they are literally making the problem much worse."

===========END OF BRIEF VERSION ============

============== LONG VERSION ===========

Sunday, January 17, 2010

"Everything that can be shaken will be shaken"

If you want to know how to help RIGHT NOW, please skip to the bottom of this Blog. Below I am just giving my story of the earthquake and letting friends and family know what's going on.

Well, after days of trying to just secure survival for a handful of families, I have found an internet connection. I was amazed to find the computer lab at the school I work at unlocked, and my friend Shawn's Macbook Pro not only ON, but connected to the internet and not password protected. SO shawn, when you read this, thank you for your irresponsibility. There were 243 messages in my Email inbox, so this blog is my whopping Response. I don't know really where to start, so I'll start before the earthquake:

While preparing to go to school on tuesday I found the pants that I wanted to wear and noticed that they were (luckily) inside out. I went to invert them and felt a rubbery action-figure stuck in one of the pant legs. Thinking my son Zebedee had misplaced a toy I pushed it out with my hand only to find that it was actually a very scared and agile lizard. That is the only thing I remember about that day, other than all hell breaking loose at about 5:00. Shelley and I were debriefing our days at school and the beading program and walking through the house when our kitchen began spitting its contents onto the floor, shattering coffee mugs, hucking the water filter onto the floor, snapping the propane tank valves on our stove in half and just being altogether poltergeisty. We hurried to the back door of the kitchen, holding our adoptive Haitian babies and each other and watching the wall between our house and our neighbor's wobble like cellulite. We yelled out for Keziah and Zebedee, our biological children, and could not see them or hear them over the rumbling and crunching. When the quake stopped I ran and shut off the hissing propane tank and we went looking for our kids. Keziah was outside, and looking almost embarrassed by the awkwardness of the moment asked, "WHAT WAS THAT?" I said, "That was an earthquake.are you scared?" She said, "Yes!" I asked where Zebedee was and she said, "He wasn't scared, he went outside and started riding on his plastic motorcycle." At that moment Zebedee strolled up nonchalantly and asked the same question Keziah had, only a little more stoicly. (Later he would say, "Hey, if we all had helmets, we could RIDE the Orfquake!")

There were many of the poor Haitians who work with our program in the house when the quake hit. They were able to run outside and nobody got hurt, but we were soon to find that two of their houses had collapsed entirely, while others had had a few cinder blocks fall on family members. It was a good thing that the people at our house had been there when the quake came. Other than throwing almost everything on the floor and putting a few cracks in some of our walls, our house was well in tact. When we looked out our front gate we saw about a third of our neighbors cinder block exterior walls lying in the street, having fallen as one big panel.

We began to gather all of our Haitian friends at our house and find out who needed immediate aid. One of our beaders, Chrysaline, could not find her daughter and knew that she had been hit by falling bricks. She wailed in our driveway not knowing where to go to find her child. Others began to show up reporting wounded and lost family members while some of our beaders went to remove people from rubble. Some of our missionary friends set up an emergency room in their clinic down the street and they began taking the most "Grav" situations. We used our car to take people to this makeshift emergency unit, while people shred bed sheets and improvised to clean and treat wounds. There were people with severed limbs sitting in the street, but most people had scrapes, bruises, and simple fractures. We began taking these minor cases at our house, as we had quite a bit of medical supplies at home. Jocelyn (Carey) MacGreggor is at our house and she helped bandage the wounded and make a safe place for people to sit during the tremors that have continued even through today (Sunday). Families whose homes had collapsed came to stay with us as many houses continued to dangle in danger of toppling.

Haitians pray with hands waving and eyes open, much like the early church "orant" posture for prayer. The hills and streets were alive with waving hands, and above the wailing and weeping, we could hear many people saying "Meci Jezi, Meci Senye" (Thank you Jesus, Thank you Lord). Many others cried out loud prayers of repentance for all kinds of sins. Because houses were not safe, people had gathered on barren hills and local parks to pray and wait. It was amazing to see.

Knowing that most people were going to horde gas and that there are not very many ambulences in Haiti, I went out to find hurt people. Two of the largest hospitals collapsed, so the small missionary run hospitals like the one on our street run by Bill and Suzette Manasserro were the only hope for many, but because these were created in the aftermath of the quake, many people didn't know where to find this help. As I drove up Delmas the gravity of the tragedy really came home. I saw building after building crushed, and driving up to Delmas 60, an impoverished ravine near where we live (Where our friends Josue' and Emmanuel live) I saw a pile of houses with dead bodies strewn across the street. The neighborhood, which is built on a hillside, used to look like a grey Cinque Terra, now it is a heap of rubble in the bottom of a ravine. Richard, a Haitian who lives with us and whose family lost their house in the quake, helped me load our 4 runner up with as many wounded people as we could cram in, and we sprinted off to the Hospital on Delmas 33, one of the only standing hospitals.

When I arrived home Shelley and Joceleyn informed me that the end of our street has become a mass grave, with 25o buried there yesterday and more today. I'm smashing days into hours here, as the last few days have all seemed like one big long one.


There is a lot of weeping everywhere, and as this is really the first time I've processed anything (I've been in ER mode), this is the first time I think I have felt the emotional weight of this all. I have felt angry that many people who come here to help won't be able to tell the difference between what is normal Haiti and what has been hit by the quake. Haiti was in shambles before the earthquake, and for a very long time. And people made money off of that pain by being here, but didn't really do much observable good (i.e. the UN). I find myself thankful that people are going to pay attention to the cries here now, but I'm so deeply saddened by how big that cry is . I am even more thankful for those friends who came to help before. Maybe now is not the time to rant.... but I will say, the people making an impact are the small independent Christian missions, and not the big organizations (US Army, Red Cross, etc.) who are fighting red tape and ignorance of Haitian culture to try to help. Later, those big organizations will save many many lives, and their support will be absolutely necessary, but right now it's the small guys and the many many prayers coming this way that are making the difference. It will take the giant NGOs a while to set up to operate as they intend to.

I've not had access to TV or internet before just now, but I have heard that CNN and other major networks are not drawing attention to the spiritual and religious implications of this quake, so I will say something about that. One, I will say that EVERYBODY on the street in the midst of searching for food and water is having theological conversations. They typically sound something like this:

"God has hit us hard, he is so mad at us. We forgot him and he is mad at us"
"But he hit the church up the street too."
"But it was a bad church! It was a catholic Church!"
"But Father _____ loved God, that was his church."

(ecumenical compassion has not quite made its way to haiti yet... maybe now)
Or

"This has happened because we tell so many lies, because of voodoo, and because we have not trusted each other."

This is the kind of talk I hear in the street... not just at my house, or at the missions, but everywhere. The Powers have been hit hardest... the police, the palace, the banks, the markets, the UN, the places that tend to exploit poverty, use corruption, etc. These are crumbled in the streets, while many many homes stay standing. On a natural level, this is obviously because people with a lot of power have big buildings, but.... so did Babel. After praying for so long that orphans who were caught in a cycle of corupt dealings on the government level, for example, it looks like this earthquake is allowing orphans to go home this week who have been victims of governmental processes for 3 to 6 years. Walls and fears that separated neighbors are coming down. Missions that fought over doctrinal issues are coming out of their compounds to help each other help others.

So people, including myself, see significance in this. However you think of it, what is clear is that this situation demands theological reflection, or said less academically, everybody cries out to or at God in a situation like this.

This, however, is not an act of God, if you ask me. Here's my theological take from the middle of a disaster area:

Ezekiel 18:32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

While people are wounded and mangled and destroyed and die because of sin, it is not the desire of God. The anger of God has been sufficiently taken out on himself on the cross. The death of God is sufficient to appease him. He doesn't need people to die. His love, a Father's love, would rather take on hurt than see his children hurt. And He would rather avert his anger towards himself than destroy his kids. BUT, when people elect as king the killer, stealer, liar, accuser, and destroyer, then his (Satan's) reign is what they get. And in whatsoever way that we trust selfish ambition, bitterness, sensual seductions and all the other temptations of life over the sure and strong ground that Jesus has laid for our lives, we elect Satan to a place of power over us, our relationships, and our property. The powers in Haiti have consistently elected riches, power, abuse, poverty, and exploitation as king and this week, perhaps we see the fruit of this election, not as the wrath of God, but as the normal outworking of the reigning government. We also see the response of God in all the miraculous survivors, healings, and the benevolent aid and responses of people. And we see a re-vote as to who will be the prince of this world. Casting the vote for Jesus, as it were, however, means living as he has asked. But he is the knight in shining armor rescuing us from a tyrant king... He is NOT the tyrant king. As John says in one of his epistles "The world is under the control of the evil one". This is why Jesus asks us to pray that his kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven.... because it's not fully here yet. One day, says the book of Hebrews, all of Jesus enemies, including death and natural disasters, will be put under his feet, but the battle is not over, and it is not against flesh and blood.
We still reap what we sow, we still suffer for sin, but we do so not under the judgement of God (If He wasn't satisfied by His own death, what could satisfy?), but under the rule of the powers that we have selected. Ultimately every knee will bow, and every tongue will say that Jesus is the very best president, all others are a painful and unequipped, or worse, a demonic second.
So while there is some twisted kind of justice in the suffering in Haiti when it comes to oppressive powers, and there is some immediate healing (in the adoption process, for example) there is also a whole lot of suffering that is just ridiculous and tragic, and all the pain of destruction is mourned by our Father God and he is visibly rallying His troops to oppose the hurt that is here. That is my take on it anyway, and I would never have come to Haiti in the first place if I didn't believe that... that we are still in a battle, each of us potentially overcoming some corner of evil from within the army of God, OR we are participating in evil through our apathy, laziness, selfishness, and unforgiveness.
As Bono said, "Put on your boots"
Or as Dylan said, "You gotta serve somebody"

OUR PLANS:
Right now our plans are to stay and help. We don't want to leave our babies or the families we work with behind, though if the orphan visas allow, we'd love to take a break to come see family if we can soon. Our language skills are indispensable for translating with aid workers right now, and our relationships and knowledge of the culture and geography also allow for us to provide aid that would not be replaced if we left. We are really depending on God's leading each day, and if we HAVE to leave, we have ways to get out and will.

HOW TO HELP
The VERY best way to help right now is to get food, water, and medical supplies to haiti. IT needs to come now. I don't know how to do that, but if you have an airplane, I do hear that the US has taken over the airport and is letting things through.
The second best thing would be to give money to SMALL non-profit organizations like ours (The APparent Project), the Livesays, Real Hope for Haiti, Heartline ministries, or people like that. Make sure they are staying in country first. Many missionaries are evacuating, at which point your donations don't get to the need as quickly. Later, say in a month or two, the larger organizations like UNICEF, etc. will need the financial support to keep the larger organized efforts afloat, but until they really get set up and committed, its more immediately helpful to give to the small guys. The truth is, as aid comes in, without order and police, the aid will turn into a kind of black market, and what was supposed to be free food and water will be capitalized on by gangs, etc. This is what has happened in the past with Hurricane relief. There will probably be riots, etc. so if benevolent people in relationship with the poor have enough money to buy the aid from these markets they will know the culture better and know how to distribute the stuff with less violence, smaller, more local distributions, etc. IT is also important, obviously, to communicate with the large aid distributors about the location of these smaller local points of distribution, as they can avoid doing large food drops in public places and instead get the food to lots of smaller distribution locations.
Fast and PRAY for peace in Haiti while you also pray for food, water, medical help, and some kind of structure to return here. There is a lot of fear developing and hunger makes people do crazy things. Fast for us please. Contribute what you conserve by fasting.
So to recap: Donate heavily to small organizations now (use google to find them)
and then donate to the bigger people and organize trips to Haiti to help in the following months (BUT ONLY IF YOU CAN BE SELF SUSTAINED WHILE HERE!) All aid workers need to bring their own food and water for the duration of their stay, otherwise they are literally making the problem much worse.

I'm not sure when I will be able to get online again. I currently have to climb about a mile uphill up to the school to check email, so please keep us in your prayers, send whatever kinds of support you can, and tell others to join in the effort. Pilots, doctors, nurses, nutritionists, people who can bring food and water... COME!
May His Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.
Blessings,
Corrigan Clay
P.S> I love you mom!

============== END OF LONG VERSION ===========

Peace,

conrade