Four years ago I had never heard of them, apparently missed that lesson in world history, didn’t know their story. But on a glorious All Saints Day afternoon with the sun shining and the trees just beginning to betray their true autumnal colors I gathered with almost fifty Donauschwaben at the Linden Hill Cemetery in Ridgewood, Queens. There with a spectacular view of the Manhattan skyline off in the distance we came together to remember, to honor, and to commemorate those whose lives were lost—lost not simply to the tragedy and horrors of war, but specifically as the memorial stone imparts “Opfer der Entrechtung, Vernichtung, Verschleppung, Vertreibung” or in English, “victims of expulsion, deprivation of rights, extermination, and deportation.”

History can sometimes seem like it was so long ago. And yet, it is often more present and real than we realize. There’s a lot of history here, and I’m not attempting to be a history teacher, but perhaps a little Cliff Notes version may be helpful. In 1683, the Battle of Vienna becomes a turning point in history where the Ottoman Empire is pushed back by the Holy Roman Empire and the Hapsburgs of Austria rise to prominence. The fertile plains surrounding the Danube River thus become “depopulated” by Ottoman subjects, and the subsequent Austrian/Hungarian rulers wish to resettle it with farmers who can develop the land. Many of the colonizers will be from the west, particularly German speaking, many from Swabia, and so they are called the Danube Swabians. While it is true that these westerners who were transported to Central Europe were indeed good farmers and brought agricultural development, it should also be noted that the Hapsburgs and the Kingdom of Hungary especially wanted to make sure there was a Christian buffer between them and the Muslim Ottoman Empire. These German speaking enclaves thus get established in the late 17^th century, expand in the 18^th century, and grow into the 20^th century. Then, with the rise of Nazi Germany during World War II particular complications arise regarding the relationship of the Donauschwaben and the resulting nations in which they reside, especially Yugoslavia. Suffice it to say, those complications eventually lead to drastic and horrible measures including concentration camps comprising of both forced labor and starvation against these cultural Germans.

Consequently, the memorial monument in the Linden Hill Cemetery speaks of the “victims of expulsion, deprivation of rights, extermination, and deportation.” The majority of the almost fifty some folks gathered there to commemorate this community on All Saints Day are there because they are survivors. They experienced these horrors firsthand and many of them lost their loved ones.

Thus they have gathered to remember, to honor, and to commemorate on this All Saints Day like they have on All Saints Day for the last 50 plus years. There are speeches and poems, hymns and songs and prayers. They used to recite the names of those who were lost. They don’t do that any longer. Their numbers were once much larger, but time takes its toll. Once the Donauschwaben were deported from Yugoslavia and Hungary, many of them ended up temporarily in Germany and Austria and eventually emigrated to other countries, many coming to the US and Canada. Due to a variety of factors many ended up in my neighborhood—Ridgewood, Queens and Bushwick, Brooklyn—joining communities of other German-speaking immigrants who had come in the century and decades before them. Many of them ended up at the church I now serve, having traditionally been for the last 158 years a German congregation. Approximately a third of those gathered at the memorial are from my church. Probably a fourth of those gathered do not “have” a church, but when the time comes when they “need” a pastor, I will be the one they call. They have asked me, their pastor, to conclude the occasion with some words and a prayer.

This is my third observance and each year I feel evermore connected; not that I can relate to their story—I can’t. But they have become, well, as hokey as it may sound, my people. And because they are my people, their story has become mine. I try to relate their story, my story, with the story of faith. I read the words for the day:

After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”… For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7:9-10,15-17)

I apologize that it was in English. (My German is not so good.) They smile it off. We close in prayer and the benediction—that I am able to say in their tongue! Die Gnade unseres Herrn Jesu Christus, und die Liebe Gottes, und die Gemeinschaft des Heiligen Geistes, sei mit uns Allen! Then we go back to the German Hungarian soccer clubhouse and have coffee and strudel.

The grace of Jesus Christ! It’s an awesome task to share in that, as the RCA Liturgy say, “to be pastors and teachers, sharing people’s joys and sorrows, encouraging the faithful, recalling those who fall away, helping the sick and the dying.” (Order for Ordination to the Office of Minister of Word and Sacrament)

“Umm, sure…” I rather hesitantly replied, choir members mulling about the narthex around us preparing to circle up shortly to pray prior to the organ prelude.

“Well, it’s sort of involved.” Joe responds (with respect to him, Joe is not his real name).

Jostled by one of the Sunday School teachers who has her own immediate concern to share with me I interject, “Perhaps it can wait till the end of worship?” to which Joe is completely satisfied.

The Sunday School concern dealt with, the organ prelude begins, I join hands with the choir members as one of our elders leads us in prayer, and the last few stragglers get to their seats before the service commences. But now, sort of overshadowing in my mind I wonder, “what is Joe’s question and why is it so important?”

Maybe a little background would help. Joe is what I can only describe as a true man of God and a blessing! He is kind and generous and was a tremendous support to me, his pastor. Although technically, he was not an official member of my previous congregation. His wife was, but he had “theological differences” that in his mind, for the time being, precluded him from officially joining. But in practice—spiritual, financial, and physical—Joe is fully a part of our church. So much so, that he and I regularly met for breakfast at least once a month where we would share and pray for one another. It was during these times of sharing where we discovered, as much as we both love God and follow Jesus, Joe and I do not necessarily see eye to eye with one another. Joe is by his own account a fundamentalist in his Christianity, quite conservative, a devout evangelical with pretty solid Pentecostal beliefs. I on the other hand am not a fundamentalist but espouse a solidly mainline Protestant perspective. While I very much appreciate Pentecostalism and am glad for its contribution to Christianity and even in my own faith formation, I’m firmly in the Reformed camp. Whereas we both are evangelicals, I am unabashedly a liberal evangelical. Therefore, Joe and I have a differing of perspectives. But for all that we disagree about, we have far greater agreement in what we hold in common—the firm conviction of the power of the Gospel, of the way of Christ, and the reality of God’s grace and truth. And with the importance of the church living that grace and truth out!

Which brings me back to that Sunday morning worship service and Joe’s question. The morning went rather “normally.” Following the benediction I greeted folks as they left the sanctuary on their way to coffee fellowship and again met with Joe, having wondered in the back of my mind the entire time, “what is his inquiry?”

“So Joe, now that we have a little more time, what was your question?” I asked him.

He responded, “Oh, you already answered it!”

“Really?”

“Yes. During the children’s message!”

The gospel lesson for the day had to do with the Great Commandment. You know: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself. In the gospel story according to Luke, reciting these commandments leads one of Jesus’ audience members to ask a further question, “and who is my neighbor?” Jesus answers that by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan. That’s the one about how some sad fellow finds himself robbed and beaten and left for dead on the side of the road. Fortunately, you might think, two devout religious types walk past where he lays. But in seeing him, they purposely keep on walking and ignore him. Now it should be pointed out that this fellow—as is Jesus, as are all the folks in Jesus’ audience—is Jewish. This is important only in the severe contrast of the third person to walk past our poor beaten half-dead lying in a ditch guy. Because the third person is a Samaritan—a people with similar religious and cultural background as Jesus and his people, yet generally despised by them. And yet it is the Samaritan who helps the poor beaten down Jewish fellow, going out of his way to provide assistance. And Jesus asks, who was a neighbor to the man who fell into harm.

The children’s message that day included the parable of the Good Samaritan and it also included how we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, including and especially those “neighbors” who are not necessarily like us. Kids may not understand all the complexities of what a Samaritan is, but they certainly understand that sometimes one kid will pick-on another kid that is different or that sometimes some children are excluded. Sometimes even, they have been the one excluded. Sometimes even, they have been the one to pick-on the other.

Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. - Romans 15.7

Which brings me back to Joe. “What was your question, Joe?” I asked. He responded that his wife had a co-worker—let’s call him “Brian.” Brian had recently gone through some difficulties in his life. He had grown up in the church, but had not participated in organized religion for a number of years. And now at this point in his life, he felt he needed church again. The thing was, he had recently visited another local church where it was made very obvious that he was not welcomed there. Brian was gay. Joe and his wife believing that all people need God in their life, and that all people need God’s people too, that is the church, they wanted to invite Brian to our church. But the question was, “Would Brian be welcomed here?”

In hearing the children’s message, in hearing the gospel lesson, Joe knew what the answer should be. Yes! We should welcome him.

Obviously, Joe and I would have further conversations and we would not always agree with one another and we would not always understand in the same ways. But what we both believed was that Brian—and for that matter, any and every person—should be welcomed in Christ’s church.

Look for updates every Tuesday and Thursday.

Classes Affirm Belhar Confession

The Belhar Confession will join the RCA’s historic confessions as a standard of unity.

A two-thirds majority of the RCA’s 46 classes have voted to ratify adoption of the confession, which General Synod 2009 voted to add as a fourth standard of unity. Each classis has engaged in conversation and discernment around this decision, which requires an addition to the Book of Church Order. All votes have been reported to the General Synod office, with 32 classes in favor of ratification and 14 opposed.

“General Synod 2010, following procedure for any change to theBCO, will be asked to make a ‘declarative act’ confirming that two-thirds or more of the classes have voted in favor of the amendment to the BCO,” says general secretary Wes Granberg-Michaelson. “When that action is taken, the Belhar Confession will be officially adopted as a fourth confessional standard of the Reformed Church in America.”

The RCA has been considering the Belhar Confession since 1985, three years after it was written in South Africa in response to divisions in the church during apartheid. Since then, the confession has been referred to RCA congregations and classes for study. Many of the RCA’s commissions have studied and reflected on the confession, as well:

• The Commission on Theology in 1986, 1997, 2008, and 2009
• The Commission on Christian Unity in every year since 1999
• The Commission on Race and Ethnicity in 2001, 2003, 2007, and 2008
• The Commission on Christian Action in 2001
• The Commission on Church Order in 2006
• The Commission on Christian Worship in 2004
• The Commission on Christian Education and Discipleship in 2007 and2009

In 2000, General Synod instructed the Commission on Christian Unity tocommend the Belhar Confession to the church over the next decade for reflection, study, and response as a means of deepening the RCA’s commitment to dealing with racism and strengthening its ecumenical commitment to the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa and other Reformed bodies.

In 2007, General Synod voted to provisionally adopt the Belhar Confession for two years of testing in worship, teaching, discernment, and confession.

In 2009, General Synod voted to make that provisional adoption permanent, pending the approval of two-thirds of its classes.

The Belhar will join the RCA’s historic standards: the Heidelberg Catechism with its Compendium, the Canons of the Synod of Dort, and the Belgic Confession of Faith.

Related resources:

• Read the Belhar Confession (also available in Spanish, Korean, andChinese)
• Resources for studying the Belhar Confession

Pastor Larousse Josma is a Haitian Pastor I met over twenty years ago when he was a student at New Brunswick Theological Seminary. I had wanted Larousse to travel with me on my first trip to Haiti, but as hard as I tried I could not locate him. Pastor Josma’s ministry in Haiti is called MIBOSAM-Good Samaritan’s Ministry. He has a school with about 200 children, a feeding program, and a training center. Rev. Steven Schwander, who has worked with MIBOSAM for about fifteen years, learned that I was in Haiti through the RCA website, called me to reintroduce Pastor Josma who was also in Haiti at the time of the January 12 earthquake. Pastor Josma agreed to be my host and interpreter during my second trip to Haiti in February.

A young homeless woman came by to speak with Pastor Josma on our third day back in the Port-au-Prince. She had a deep cut on the back of her leg and her seven year old son had been killed during the earthquake. Although I could see the fatigue in her eyes and the weariness that comes from sleepless nights, she limped up the steps asking only for prayer and holding on to the hope that things would get better. As I looked at her, I could feel her sadness and her pain. Not speaking Creole, I learned of her tragedy through Larousse. What can you say? What can you do to bring comfort to a mother who has lost a child? Mary must have felt the same sense of despair standing at the foot of the cross. Oh my Lord and my God, I thought. I just held her in my arms praying for her, praying for her children, praying for the children that have died by the thousands and the mothers who grieve. I just held her in my arms. She did not speak English and I did not speak Creole but we had a spiritual bond, a unity of the spirit, the language of God that transcends all human barriers and enabled us to know that in that moment the Holy Spirit was with us. Jesus has promised I will not leave you comfortless. Praise God! Where comfort is needed comfort is assured. After we prayed, she said, “Thank you, I trust in God and I believe that God is going to give me the strength to take care of my other two children, God is going to provide us with a place to live and God is going to provide us with the food that we need. I must stay strong and keep thanking God.” What is it that enables this woman and so many others to keep on going forward, to keep on living, to keep on praising God in the midst of overwhelming darkness and sadness?

I’m reminded of 2 Corinthians 4: “Let light shine out of darkness.” For whenever anyone turns to the Lord, there is light and ever-increasing glory and faith and power. For me, this mother’s strength was a reflection of the spirit of the Lord. Verse 7 makes it clear that her strength is from God, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” We shared some water, rice and beans, gave her some money and continued to hear her story about what happened during the earthquake to her and her family.

As she limped down the street going to pick up her children at a friend’s place, I could hear her continuing to shout in the distance “Thank God my children were spared, thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus!”

Let those who love your salvation say evermore, “God is great!” But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay! (Psalm 70:4-5)

On this Maundy Thursday, my thoughts are centered on this evening’s worship where we will remember Christ and His disciples as He prepares them for His going to the Cross to die for the sins of the world. The final hours of Jesus’ ministry on earth were coming to a close. Jesus had sent his disciples into the city to arrange for a place where they might enjoy one last meal together. It was the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, more commonly known as the Feast of Passover.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread was called such because only unleavened bread was eaten during these seven days. Unleavened bread reflected the fact that the Israelites had no time to put leaven in their bread before their hasty departure from Egypt. A common Jewish tradition in preparing for the Feast of Unleavened Bread is to sprinkle leavened (yeast) bread crumbs throughout the house and then sweep them all up and burn them outside. Throughout the Bible, leaven symbolizes sin. Leaven is the substance that causes fermentation. The Lord said to His disciples, “Beware of the leaven (false doctrine) of the Pharisees.” In addition, the apostle Paul warned the Church at Corinth that “a little leaven (yeast) leavens (ferments) the whole lump” (I Corinthians 5:6). Paul was simply saying that if sin goes unchecked, it will permeate and infect everything and everyone around them.

The more I read, experience, and meet people living in Haiti, born in Haiti, who have worked in Haiti, or supported Haiti through international humanitarian efforts, the one word that keeps coming up is corruption. Not just corruption in the Haitian government, but also corruption in NGO’s and international agencies that are supposed to be in Haiti to help and heal.

“If sin goes unchecked, it will permeate and infect everything and everyone around them.” Financial corruption around the world is so rampant that it is impossible even to attempt to put a price on it. We live in a world where trillions upon trillions of dollars are flowing through money laundering schemes, illegal business conspiracies, “under the table” contract payoffs, drug cartel and oil cartel deals, mergers and acquisitions. Money flows, either in the form of hard currency or electronic funds transfers, like a river larger than the Mississippi River every hour. While many of these transfers are above board and legal, many are not. Most are never noticed at all. Haiti appears to be caught in that same cesspool of corruption with the international community. What has happened to the billions of dollars given to help the people of Haiti? The UN’s top official in Haiti, Edmond Mulet, acknowledged that Haiti’s government was “quite weak,” even before the magnitude-7 quake killed 18,000 civil servants.

“We have always not worked with the government . . . because we were concerned it was corrupt, inefficient, and weak. But if we don’t address this now, we will have a peacekeeping mission and international interventions in Haiti for the next 200 years.”

Analysts have described the scale of Haiti’s quake tragedy as “mind-boggling.” As more bodies are dragged from piles of rubble and twisted steel, the final death toll is predicted to climb towards 300,000. An estimated 1.3 million of a total population of nine million were left homeless.

About 600,000 survivors fled the shoddily built capital, Port-au-Prince, after the quake leveled 100,000 homes and damaged another 200,000; with the total value of losses estimated at $8 billion, more than 120 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product last year. An assessment by the Haitian government with international support put the total needed for Haiti’s recovery at $12 billion over the next decade.

In Haiti, corruption is an endemic factor that is widespread throughout all levels of government and society. The starting point for the long journey towards progress is none other than the fight against corruption, and as long as measures to eliminate corruption are not taken, Haitians will not be able to escape misery. From successful businessmen to refugees scraping to survive in squalid tent camps, Haitians say they expect that a good portion of any money sent will flow straight into the pockets of corrupt government officials. “The U.S. government needs to come here to help the Haitian people,” said Jean-Louis Jerome, a construction worker who has lived beneath tarpaulins in a park with nine relatives since their house collapsed during the January 12 earthquake. “If you give the aid to the person at the top, he will just put it in his pocket.”

Transparency International, the global corruption monitor, has described Haiti as one of the world’s most graft-ridden countries and raised concerns over aid and development cash being diverted into the pockets of unscrupulous officials.

Reconstruction efforts are routinely plagued by corruption, with funds swallowed in chains of sub-contractors, each taking their cut, leaving roads, schools, and homes badly built in places such as Afghanistan and Indonesia after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Some analysts have suggested that Haiti’s reconstruction be overseen by a UN trusteeship body, with Transparency’s president in Haiti, Marilyn Allien, arguing that spending be tightly controlled by donors and the world body. “We know that corruption is endemic here, and we know that opportunities for corruption multiply after a humanitarian disaster. The president’s reconstruction plan has a lot of weaknesses. The questions of accountability and transparency seem to be entirely lacking. You cannot ask donors for billions of dollars while the world is getting over an economic recession and not say how you’re going to ensure transparency.” Although UN officials publicly support the Haitian government, the 11 weeks since the earthquake have seen the world body and Haitian officials repeatedly clash over crisis management, arguing over whether to evacuate the capital and when to stop handing out free food. Top UN officials privately complain that the Haitian government spent more than two months locating the sites to build five semi-permanent camps for those currently living in muddy tarpaulin hovels. Government delays mean many will suffer and more will die during the coming rain and hurricane seasons.

“If sin goes unchecked, it will permeate and infect everything and everyone around them.”

Prayer:
On Maundy Thursday, our prayer on behalf of the people of Haiti to Almighty God, who bent Pharaoh’s will with the ten plagues, do likewise to all modern Pharaohs fueling the misery of such an industrious people. Dear Heavenly Father, source of freedom, prosperity, forgiveness, lower the heaven and bless mightily the nation of Haiti and all freedom loving nations, organizations and individuals working unceasingly to alter the plight, the miserable condition, foreseen by so many for the coming rainy season. May Our Lord Jesus Christ calm these storms for His name’s sake. We pray the world would recognize our need to come back to the way of righteousness. Help us to stand for what is good, right, and pleasing in the sight of God as we commemorate the evening before the crucifixion when Jesus and His disciples broke bread together for the last time. Bind the people of Haiti together as only You can, so that together they might rise up and rebuild from the rubble a great nation dedicated to Jesus the Christ. Bless our Haitian brothers and sisters with food, water, shelter, medicine, and all that is needed to the glory of God. We pray for the courage to fight greed and corruption wherever we encounter it in the world.
Amen.

It was truly amazing to see people dancing in the street, singing hymns, praying out loud and saying, “Thank you, Jesus!” when I returned to Haiti in February. Haiti is experiencing a spiritual revival! Tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, drought, and other natural disasters have occurred in different parts of the world and will continue to occur, but scripture makes it clear that they are not a weapon used by God against His people.

The Haitian people have suffered a great tragedy; many lives have been lost; many homes/building destroyed, but they and we will face these difficulties as conquerors, actually more than conquerors because Jesus Christ loves us and will never leave us alone (Romans 8: 37-39).

On February 12, 2010, a month after the earth quake wreaked havoc on Haiti, President Rene Préval of Haiti made a monumental decision; together with his people, he would humble himself before the Lord, calling on Him for forgiveness and healing for his land. President Préval called his nation to three days of fasting and prayer in place of the regular Mardi Gras celebration.

It was the time of the Mardi Gras celebration, but the people of this impoverished nation were more than willing to change their plans, as their hearts had already been broken.

But, would the people heed the call to prayer? Would the people come?

Indeed, they did. Hundreds of thousands of Haitian people gathered in repentance; hands uplifted to God, tears streaming. The prime minister arrived. He didn’t speak a word, but cried for an hour, then left and returned with Haiti’s president. Reportedly, thousands came to Christ during that time, with over 100 voodoo priests turning to Jesus. This observance of the great Haitian earthquake was absolutely historic. This was not “a minute of silence for the deceased” or something as equally insignificant. Whatever the president might have originally intended became a real commitment for the Haitian people. As I walked the streets of Port-au-Prince on February 14, I could hear preaching coming from every corner and in every open space. Services were going on all day… From as early as 6 a.m. there were throngs of people headed to various churches or huge makeshift tents. The sounds of Christian music and worship filled the air everywhere, and there was no traffic. Port-au-Prince streets are always clogged and overflowing with bumper-to-bumper traffic. That morning there were only a few vehicles on the roads, a few small buses (tap taps), some U.N. and military vehicles, and a few private cars. We had clear sailing through town. The same was true of foot traffic. Usually the streets are also clogged with people walking. There were only a few people and many of them dressed for church. The only place there were traffic blocks was in front of several churches where the congregations had overflowed the buildings and the yards and had moved out into the streets.

Everything was closed! We could not find even one business or gas station open. There were no intercity buses running. Whereas the sidewalks are usually overflowing with millions of street vendors, we only saw a few here and there. The huge outdoor market near the wharf where thousands work each day–and is spread out to cover most of the street–was empty.

Where were all the people? They were in churches and makeshift meeting sites. Every church had services going on, almost always overflowing into the streets. Beside broken down churches, services were taking place outside. In homeless camps, there were services. The nation was gathered everywhere to worship and pray. No, I did not see any voodoo, Islamic, or Buddhist services. This scene was repeated in every town and hamlet that we passed during the day.

There was a tremendous outpouring of God’s power as the result of prayer. A million Haitians participated in a three day fast and prayer, 3000 converted–and over 100 of them voodoo priests.

I believe that God was present and that He is moving in this place . . . and He is willing and able to raise Haiti and her suffering children from the ashes. I also believe that the Haitian people are fulfilling the requisites to God’s promise, as they are set out in 2 Chronicles 7:14.

It was awesome to hear testimonies from those who had survived the violent destruction of the earthquake. “We have survived. . . .We need you always, when the sun shines and when the wind blows. . . .Surely God hears his people. Surely he is pleased by their sacrifice. Surely he will give ‘beauty for ashes.’” “I don’t even know how I fell on the ground,” testified a young man. “I remember screaming, ‘Jesus, Jesus, save me please,’ as I heard the noise of the buildings collapse. From then on I gave my entire life to God so that I can serve Him.” “We are people of hope even if we are hurting.”

January 12th spiritually awakened thousands of survivors of the earthquake. They are worshiping the Lord. All the prayers and prophetic words spoken over this little island will come to pass, and Haiti will be an example of what the Lord Jesus Christ can do when He is Lord.

Like Job who, in spite of his sudden and catastrophic losses, bowed low before God in worship (Job 1:20), so our Haitian brethren showed the world a similar depth of character. Certainly, their collective heartache and loss was deep, yet the anchor of their soul, unmistakably, was Jesus Christ.

God is bringing His sheep into His fold as He brings them to repentance and faith! He is bringing His people through the purifying fires of affliction, and leading them to repentance that their faith may be found as pure gold for the love, devotion and worship of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. May we also be brought to fasting and prayer–and repentance.

Thank God for His mercy in bringing His people to repentance and faith, for His glory and for their joy. Thank You Lord; for the work of Your Spirit among the Haitian people. Praise to God.

Revival and healing are occurring in this island nation. Indeed, even the news media are reporting of conversions: “Since the earthquake, the country has been spiritually transformed. People from a variety of religious backgrounds, including voodoo, are pledging to devote themselves anew to Christianity.”

Let us join in prayer and stay faithful before God. The Lord has set His heart to bless the people of Haiti and restore them to Himself. Even in this time of great heartache, there is coming forth a great harvest.

One of my prayers and something I want our prayer teams and our congregations to pray for is that this nation will be forever changed and will be built on the solid rock and foundation of God; that the people would not go back to voodoo and witchcraft and worshiping other gods. I pray that this three day fast would be an annual fast that is held each year instead of “Mardi Gras.” May God continue to be known across this nation.

“All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name” (Psalm 86:9).

How do you think you would respond to a call to fast and pray for three days?

What is the difference between revival and revitalization?

Do you think the people of Haiti will continue to praise God in the months to come if they live through the rainy season and the hurricane season?

How do you think our nation would respond to a call from President Obama to close all schools, businesses, and government offices for three days of prayer and fasting?