We didn’t have time to fit this into the ‘Decades’ series, but if there was ever any dance routine the deserved to become a parody, it was Michael Flatley’s “River Dance”! Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4fPHt0FjEU 

Oscar Wilde once wrote, “I can believe anything, provided it is incredible!” On February 6 & 7 I will wrap up our “Decades” series with a message on where God is leading us this year as a church family. I want to encourage you to come and bring a friend who is looking to be a part of something incredible because what God is calling us to become in the next year and in the next decade will require more faith than we’ve ever had to live out in Southland’s history! I really want everyone who calls Southland “home” to hear in specific terms where God is leading us as individuals and as a community of Christ followers.

If you’re reading this and your tired of watching your church do little if anything to love the poor or reach the people Jesus died for in this city, then please make an effort to come to Southland this one weekend and hear me out. I think you’ll walk away realizing there is a group of people who are completely sold out to the mission of Jesus and you could join us in an unprecedented journey that is leading us to an unprecedented revolution of love that will forever alter the city of Lexington! I look forward to seeing you at one of our 8 different weekend services: February 6th at 5:30 PM or February 7th at 8:30 AM, 10:00 AM, 10:10 AM, 11:30 AM and 6:08 PM (Lexington) or 10:00 AM, 11:30 AM (Danville).

You have gone above and beyond what we asked for this past weekend in terms of items needed in Haiti! Here is what we need as of today (Thursday) to complete our packing efforts:

1.       Tents 10 ft. X 10 ft. “Gazebo” type that adults can actually stand up in.

2.       Mats 24 inches wide that people can sleep on and sit on and can be rolled up with ease when the person needs to move.

3.       Fleece Throws for blankets (ideal size – 50 inches X 60 inches)

What is listed above is all we need! Again, you have brought in enough stuff to meet the needs of the people we are helping in Haiti…I’ll keep you posted from stage and this blog as more needs arrive.

More and more people are responding to our request from this past weekend to partner with us in helping the children of Haiti! Thanks for being so generous on behalf of so many in Haiti! We’re doing our best to sort through all of the requests that are coming in from Haiti and we’re attempting to prioritize them based on the urgency, the long-term responsibilities, and what plan is financially sustainable over the next few years. The needs are so great and so numerous so pray for our staff and leadership to have wisdom in making decisions that will bring relief to the Haitians now as well as in the years to come.

One of the schools that we fund has made the decision to join the rest of the schools in Haiti by closing its doors for the next 3 weeks. Everyone in the country has been directly affected by the tragedy of the earthquake. One friend wrote to tell me that “everyone is in a state of shock and mourning.” Pray for the teachers there who are loving the Haitian people in so many different ways. Two of the teachers (Jonathon & Cady) are members of Southland.

I met with a young Haitian man yesterday whose wife and 11 year old son were killed in the earthquake. He is now caring for his 4 month old son and has no life to return to in Port-au-Prince. He is stuck in Kentucky with a short-term visa. His name is Fenelon and he needs our prayers. Pray specifically that our Embassy is compassionate towards him and his plight and grants him an extension on his Visa.

Food and water shortages continue to be a daily issue in Port-au-Prince, so I want to challenge everyone who calls Southland home to remember the Haitian people in prayer every time we gather around a table to eat. We need to ask ourselves what we can go without so children in Haiti won’t have to go without.

I am always blown away by the love of God that flows through each of you and I want to say “thanks” for loving people, no matter where they’re from or what they’re facing! Southland family, thanks for being Jesus in this world!

Before you plan any strategic initiative towards reaching the poor, whether it be overseas or in your own backyard, please take the time to read this book: When Helping Hurts—How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and Yourself. I think it is a “must-read” in light of all that is going on in Haiti and I know it will provide some practical insight and ideas on how to really help those who need the most help.

From the bottom of my heart…thanks! Thanks for giving $65,000 this past weekend to help with the relief efforts in Haiti. In our partnership with Food for the Hungry we have chosen two specific areas in Port-au-Prince to serve 110,000 people. You can go to Google Earth and see both locations. The first is the Bellevue La Montagne zone north of the city and Delmas 22-75. Delmas is the main road in Port-au-Prince and all the streets that intersect with it are numbered, so we’re adopting an area that was heavily damaged.

In specific terms, I want you to see how your generosity has already helped thousands of people:

• 4,800 blankets, 160 rolls of plastic (to build make-shift tents), 2,200 solar-powered flashlights, two water community water filters, and 1,440 hygiene kits have been distributed through our partnership with Samaritan’s Purse.
• One truck load of food and water from the Dominican Republic has been delivered.
• A few hundred thousand dehydrated meal packs have been distributed through our partnership with Stop Hunger Now.
• Emergency health kits that will provide basic treatment to 10,000 people for 3 months have been put in the hands of those in need of medical attention through our partnership with Global Relief Alliance.
• Clothing, tarps, medical supplies (wheelchairs, bandages, gauze, etc…), water purifying tablets, water and food has been given to the homeless through our partnership with Kode Red.
• A combination of wheat, corn, and other fortified foods that will last a year has been passed out to thousands through our partnership with USAID & World Vision.
• Two distributions of medical supplies, one to a hospital and the other to a clinic, are being used by doctors as I type this.

So, you’ve already made a difference and we’re in the process of sending another $40,000 to Food for the Hungry, our main mission partner on the ground in Port-au-Prince, who has helped us reach people in need in the first week after the earthquake.

In addition, we are sending another $25,000 to our partners in the northwest part of the island because they are being inundated with refugees who are showing up on their doorsteps with nothing but the clothes on their back.

Our next step…

Food for the Hungry has asked if we would be willing to help them establish what they call “child friendly spaces” in the two areas of Port-au-Prince that we are adopting. After a war or a natural disaster, it is imperative that we help children process the trauma they have experienced by establishing routine and structured activities that include games and educational opportunities. These activities have a strong psychosocial component as they provide a caring and normalizing environment to mitigate the impact of the crisis on the children when their parents and guardians may be otherwise occupied. Typically these activities are located under trees, in what remains of schools, or any available space and offer games, drama, art activities, non-formal educational activities and sports. Eventually these activities transition into formal schooling once the rebuilding of a community takes place.

Here’s where you can play a role. Food for the Hungry needs us to buy:

1. Tents
2. Crayons
3. Coloring books
4. Paper
5. Notebooks
6. Pencils & Pens
7. Construction paper
8. Glue
9. Scissors (blunt)
10. Soccer balls
11. Toothpaste/Tooth brushes
12. Soap

Please bring these materials to our weekend services and put them on either side of Connection Point. 

Next, we have been asked by our mission partners in the northwest part of the island to provide the following items for the refugees that are leaving Port-au-Prince and settling in make-shift refugee camps:

1. Peanut Butter
2. Bed Sheet
3. Batteries (double AA & D)
4. Multi-vitamins (preferably the chewable type)
5. Tylenol & Advil
6. Neosporin
7. Hydrogen Peroxide
8. Rubbing Alcohol

Southland family, I would rather they have too much of something than not enough, so let’s pull together and demonstrate the kind of generosity that is reflective of the grace we have received from God through Jesus!

I love you and I’ll update everyone from stage this weekend. And thanks in advance for meeting the needs of the people of Haiti!!!

Thanks for your generosity this weekend! We raised over $65,000 to distribute to the missionaries we support in Haiti!!! We will begin dividing that money among those who can use it in the most effective and efficient way. Please carve out time today to pray for these two things:
 
1.      Peace—pray for the looting and violence to stop.

2.      Weather—pray that it doesn’t rain as a lot of people are living outside.

As all of you know we’ve been waiting to hear feedback from our mission partners as to how Southland can respond to the tragedy taking place in Port-au-Prince. I will share from stage this weekend what we know and the preliminary plan of action which will involve a special offering. So please make it a point to attend our weekend services and pray about what God wants you to give. I love each of you and look forward to our time together in the coming days…

I have visited with several missionaries on the ground in Haiti and as difficult as it is to wait to respond, we have no other choice at this point. Until our military and other major relief organizations set up camp down there and put a plan in motion, missionaries and churches like Southland are in a holding pattern. Trust me, my heart is deeply saddened by what I’m seeing on the news and hearing first hand from Haitian friends and I want us to give aid and we will bring relief, but until we know what is needed and where to ship it and who needs to go where, we have to wait. So as we wait, let’s pray. Everyone is in agreement that is our best response to this tragedy. Here are the top 10 prayer needs for the people of Port-au-Prince at this point:

1.       Water—You can’t live without it and it is scarce on a normal day, let alone after an earthquake cuts off supply. Pray that our military and the Red Cross are able to get bottled water to the people that need it the most.

2.       Food—Haitians are strong people and are used to beating the odds when it comes to hunger, but not on this scale. They eat a staple of rice and beans at least once a day, so pray for easy to access locations within that city where people will be able to eat.

3.       Infrastructure—the roads in Haiti are not in good condition to begin with and this earthquake has exacerbated the problem and will make it especially challenging for relief workers to get from the airport to the most devastated areas. It is also challenging to communicate within the country due to poorly run phone lines and poorly built electrical grids. Pray for clear and unified communication among all the organizations that are needed to rescue, restore, and rebuild life in this city.

4.       Diesel fuel—without adequate fuel supply, the military and relief organizations won’t be able to travel or run generators which will be the only source of electricity for some time. Pray for adequate and secure locations to store diesel fuel.

5.       Medical care—medicine, bandages, clean areas to conduct surgeries, qualified doctors and nurses…Haiti is not equipped at all to meet the overwhelming medical needs of the people. This is where Southland could play a huge role, so as we wait for word from our missionary partners on the ground in Port-au-Prince, pray that the supplies that are now sitting on the runway in PAP reach the doctors who know how to use them and the people who need them the most.

6.       Disease control—with the amount of bodies piling up on the streets, the threat of widespread disease is very real. Haiti is already plagued with bacterial and viral diseases due to poor sanitation, so pray that a location is found where the bodies can be properly buried and pray for hearts of the families who are burying their loved ones.

7.       Women & Children—pray for their safety…the tension and frustration of unfathomable poverty coupled with the loss of life and lack of basics like food and water could create a panic.  Pray for peace and patience among the people. I’ve seen some ugly riots in Haiti and no one benefits from such chaos.

8.       Money—The rescue, restoration, and rebuilding efforts will take time and lots of money. Pray for governments around the world to be generous and compassionate to the poorest people on the planet. If you feel compelled to give money now, be careful who you send it to because Haiti is known for its corruption. I suggest you wait and partner with us and the missionaries we support, but if you feel led to give now, I recommend you give to the efforts of an organization that we work hand in hand with called ‘Food for the Hungry’ (www.fh.org)

9.       The trapped people in the rubble—Pray that God’s angels protect them and keep them safe as the next 24 hours become critical in terms of survival rates.

10.   The Church in Haiti—In situations like this, a lot of people turn to God for help and healing. Let’s pray for revival in a land that dedicated itself to the practices of Voodoo and the work of Satan. Nothing would help Haiti’s future more than for a widespread movement of repentance and faith in Jesus.

I just got off the phone with a missionary we work with and they have asked us to pray for the Haitians who loved ones in and around Port-au-Prince that they have not been able to communicate with. There is widespread fear that many of their relatives have died and you can understand the frustration of having to wait to know for sure. It will take time to account for all the people who are missing and having lived there for several years, I’m not sure they will ever be able to fully know everything about everyone’s whereabouts.

If you want to learn more about the ministries that Southland is partnered with in Haiti, you can check out these three web sites:

www.sonlightministries.org

www.NWHCM.org

www.fh.org