Today, I look out my window and stare at dead grass and bare trees. It's December 20, and the extended forecast boasts hi's in the mid 30's with no snow in sight. It's going to be a brown Christmas. There's no way around it. Unless, of course, we have a Christmas miracle...
Christmas miracles DO happen. I believe it. Just ask the struggling mom who went to make a payment on her layaway account at KMART. They happen.
As I think about my friends in Haiti this Christmas, I think of all that we have and all that they hope for. Is what we have, what they hope for? Not exactly.
Pastor Jean hopes for a pickup truck for Life is Hope orphanage. Not because he wants the next best thing, but because he feels obligated to have a way to transport the 100 kids he cares for to church on Sunday, or to the hospital if they get sick, or to pick up food when they are hungry. $8,000 for a reliable truck. Christmas miracle?
Pastor Samson hopes for funds to help build back the churches that he oversees that were destroyed by the earthquake. He knows that the "Church" is the people, not the building. But he cares for those people. And watching them worship the God he loves under a tarp on the street for the last 2 years is getting tiring. Complete one of the churches that needs to be completed? More than one person could give, I'm sure. Christmas miracle?
Pastor Apollon hopes to build a home for the single mom in his congregation. She has been caring for her children since her husband died in the earthquake when their house collapsed. Every time it rains, Pastor Apollon think of her as she struggles to keep her belongings dry as she huddles her kids under the tent they have called "home." He would take her in to his home, but he has no more room. $8,000 to build a house. Christmas miracle?
Today, I am sitting in my 4 bedroom house, that is currently heated to 70 degrees, looking outside at the brown grass and empty trees as my daughter sits on our couch watching Tinkerbell sprinkle her pixie dust. I am hoping for snow, the people of Haiti hope for a miracle.
If you would like to help make a Christmas miracle happen, donate at http://prayingpelicanmissions.org/donate.cfm. Select "Haiti Relief" and message me if you have a specific request for where the money should go.
