Getting Ready for Lent – What Could You Give Up For Haiti

It is hard to believe that we are already into February and that Lent is just around the corner – it begins with Ash Wednesday on February 17th.

Last year I posted a number of resources for Lent which I have linked to again at the end of this post, but for this year we want to focus on the suffering in Haiti and how we can during Lent give up something that will free up resources that could be used in Haiti.

In MSA we are planning to participate in the $2 challenge – restricting our food budget to $2/person per day for a week.  The money we save will be sent to an organization that works in Haiti.  the people of Haiti continue to suffer so much and we can all do something to help.

The question is – will you join us? We would love to see a wave of people around the world participating in this challenge.  If you are not sure how to do this I recommend that you download  the MSA Lenten guide – A Journey Into Wholeness which not only provides instructions but also provides a menu plan and recipes for the week.

If you do decide to accept this challenge we want to hear from you.

Sign up by leaving a comment, on facebook or by emailing me.  During Lent let us know how the challenge is shaping up.  Then at the end of Lent let us know how much you saved and what you plan to do with it.

This challenge works better in the company of friends who can support, encourage & participate with us.  It is also easier if you cook together for the week – each person taking responsibility for one evening meal.  So recruit your friends and join the $2 challenge with us.

For me this kind of observance is a profound and moving spiritual practice.  It not only draws us into the suffering of our world but also challenges us to look at our own lifestyles and how we can all continue to free up more of God’s resources so that we can be God’s compassionate response in times on need.

If you want something less challenging to do this Lent here are some resources to consider

Lots of Lent Resources

Reflections on Lent – A Meditation Video

Ash Wednesday Reflections

And here is a wonderful prayer from St. Thomas Aquinas posted by Karen B at Lent and Beyond that you might have missed last year

‘Almighty and everlasting God, you see that I am coming to the sacrament of your only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. I come to it as a sick man to the life-giving healer, as one impure to the fount of mercy, as one blind to the light of eternal brightness, as one who is poor and destitute to the Master of heaven and earth. I turn therefore to the abundance of your immense generosity, begging that you will deign to heal my infirmity, cleanse my uncleanness, give light to my blindness, enrich my poverty, clothe my nakedness.’

What is Prayer? More thoughts on praying for Haiti

This morning I drove Tom to the airport for a trip to Bluffton University.  Even though we are both morning people, a 6 am trip is still a struggle, made more acute by the fact that it disrupted my usual morning prayer time.  As I drove home I started thinking about the article I hope to get fleshed out today on What Will Shape Our Spiritual Practices In the Next Decade? As I thought about this I found myself meditating on the question What is Prayer? It seems a good question to contemplate as I realize what shapes our spirituality also shapes our prayers – both the way that we pray and what we pray for.

There are a myriad of books that have been written over the centuries about prayer and I am certainly no expert on the subject but I realize that it is easy for us to allow our prayer life to be shaped by influences that are not necessarily healthy, sometimes just because we don’t understand what prayer is all about.  Tragically in our busy 24/7 world, prayer is often seen as another form of busyness that we must schedule into our day.  The concept of unceasing prayer that Paul talks about is beyond our comprehension.

The situation in Haiti is one of the major influences shaping our prayers at the moment.  The prayers I have published here on my blog have been used in a number of church services and small group gatherings over the last week.  But many of us still are drowning in the images of the overwhelming devastation and suffering.  Relief workers too are finding it difficult to cope with the onslaught.  Deprived of sleep, subsisting on an inadequate diet, confronted by unimaginable horrors, some are already requiring trauma counselling and professional help.  Ironically some of the Haitians seem to be coping better because they have a deep connection to the God they know has not abandoned them.

Probably one of the most helpful books on prayer I have ever read is Richard Foster’s Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home The subtitle Finding the Heart’s True Home seems to say it all.  Prayer is not primarily about asking God to meet our own needs and the needs of the world.  Nor is it primarily about about confessing our sins and seeking God’s forgiveness.  And it is certainly not about to do lists and scheduled times of intercession, though all of these may be a part of our prayer life.

In Prayer: Finding the Heart’s true Home, Foster talks about three categories of prayer – Inward prayers that move us towards personal transformation, upward prayers that lead us towards deeper intimacy with God, and outward prayers that equip us for ministry into the world.  I think that as we prayer for Haiti we need to ensure that our response is at all these levels.  If we only focus on outward prayers of intercession we will quickly drain our energy or start trying to manipulate God into what we think would be the appropriate responses.  We may even become despondent because we see so little response.

Prayer is the language of love.  It is the intimate connection between us and the loving heart of God.  It is the place where we learn to listen and respond to the quiet whispers of God’s loving, caring voice.  Our prayers for Haiti should begin in this quiet space of upward intimate communion with God, where we touch and feel God’s heart for Haiti and its people.

In the process hopefully our hearts too will be changed as we move from upward to inward prayer, searching our own hearts to seek forgiveness for those things that have made us slow to respond in the past.  Perhaps there is unconfessed sin of greed or covetousness that makes us hold onto resources that God intends us to share.  Or there may be selfcentredness that makes us blind to needs beyond our own comfort.

So often in crisis situations we move immediately to outward prayers and responses.  We jump into action based on the extent of  need we are aware of, which often results in a quick but unsustained outpouring of assistance .  It is only when our responses come out of our connection to the heart of God who is busy making all things new, that we can be sustained in our outpouring of love, compassion and resources.

In the place of prayer we don’t just pray for the needs of Haiti, we connect to the heart of a God who aches for the pain and suffering of that land.  And we connect to the one who calls us to be hands and feet of compassion.

Celebrating Life in the Midst of Death

Monday was my fifty-ninth birthday.  I not it is not really kosher to admit to such things but I am rather proud of it.  After all I have put a lot of time and effort into getting here.

It was however a bitter sweet day that Tom and I celebrated in the midst of our grief for those suffering in Haiti and in the presence of friends at a memorial service for a good friend who died last week.  I was reminded that life and death are often intertwined in inexplicable ways.  In times of suffering we need joy and celebration more than ever.

After the funeral we went out for a wonderful celebrative birthday meal.  Then I returned home to find this spectacular arrangement of flowers from a good friend waiting for me.  And on facebook dozens if not hundreds of birthday greetings, lots of e-cards and the following day a few more sent snail mail.   I felt loved and affirmed, and my spirit was renewed by the celebration.

I was thinking about this today as I read through my Lenten guide and reflected on the upcoming season.  The fasting and deprivations of Lent are only entered into six days of the week.  Sunday is  always a celebration of the resurrection and the inbreaking of God’s kingdom.

As I move into my sixtieth year I have also been doing a lot of reflecting on my life.  I feel I have led such a privileged life.  Born into an upper middle class family in one of the wealthiest nations of the world,  provided with a good education, enjoying good health most of my life – what more can one ask for.  But there is much more. I have had the privilege of directing the development of Mercy Ships healthcare ministry, a ministry that continues to impact the lives of thousands around the world.   And through Mustard Seed Associates and my writing of books and liturgical prayers I still enjoy the incredible privilege of touching the lives of people around the world.

Life has not been without its challenges.  I was born 2 months premature and spent the first month of my life in hospital.  I grew up in a home in which there was a great deal of physical violence.  Both of these things shaped my adult life and required a great deal of healing work, but by the grace of God they also led me to faith.  Becoming a Christian as a teenager poured the love of God into my life and began a journey for me that has not only been incredibly fulfilling but has also led me towards freedom and wholeness in ways that I could never have imagined.

So this year I am planning to celebrate the goodness of God in my life in special ways as I move towards my 60th birthday.  I would appreciate your prayers too as I reflect on how to use the rest of my life in ways that are honouring to God and to God’s call on my life.

How Do We Pray for Haiti?

The horrendous earthquake in Haiti on Tuesday evening has shocked all of us.  It is hard to imagine the death and devastation that it has caused – at least 50,000 dead, hundreds of thousands injured and 3 million people displaced – almost half the population of Haiti.  And of course the ramifications of this disaster will go on for a long time to come not just for those who live in this tiny country but for all those who love and care for the people of Haiti.

Both Tom and I have worked in Haiti and our hearts ache as we think of the wonderful people we have known there.  These people were already poor and struggling to keep their families alive.  What will happen now I wonder?

At times like this all of us feel so inadequate and can easily be overwhelmed into numbing paralysis as we try to get our heads around the magnitude of the horror .  It amazes me how closely connected we can be these days to what is happening on the ground in a disaster like this.  Every news channel and website, like CNN, gives us moment by moment images and stories of what is happening – which unfortunately can add to the mind numbing paralysis we feel.  We can even follow along in the blogosphere like this account from Troy Livesay – which I find preferable because it gives me a sense of real people doing real things to make a difference.

So what can we do?  How do we pray? and how does our prayer move us into action?

We can all cry out to God for mercy for those still trapped.  In fact i find that my response at times like this is often nothing more than a repetitive:

Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy

However there are specific prayers we can offer.  We can ask for strength for the doctors and emergency crews.  Ask for wisdom for those assessing need and allocating resources.  Ask for compassion for leaders making decisions about aid.  We can ask for comfort for those who are grieving.  We can also ask for peace for a country that has been so unstable for so long.

A disaster like this should move us to more than prayer however.  We can and should also contribute to the many organizations that have already responded to this disaster.  Here in Seattle World Concern and World Vision are both at the forefront of response and around the world there has already been an outpouring of finances and personnel.  The important thing I think is to make sure that you respond to a reputable organization that you are sure will be able to maximize the effectiveness of their aid.  If you know people who already partner with churches in Haiti that is a wonderful way to funnel your response.

Third, don’t forget about this.  It is easy for compassion fatigue to set in soon after a disaster on this scale.   Don’t let your prayers or attention fade as this fades from the news cycle.  This earthquake will impact Haiti for decades to come and will need prayer for at least that long.  Open your heart to the possibilities of God’s work in the midst of chaos.

Forth, allow this disaster to re-prioritize your own life so that you are always able to be generous in situations like this – because one thing is certain in this world and that is that there will always be disasters that God intends us to respond to in compassion and love.

Fifth use this as an opportunity to search your heart regarding past disasters that held your attention for a moment and then you forgot about.  As I watched the images coming out of Haiti I could not help but remember the similar images that we have seen in the last couple of years from the tsunami that devastated so much of SE Asia and the hurricanes that flattened New Orleans and Myanmar.  Are there ways that we should still be responding to help people in these countries?  Most relief an development agencies will tell you that it is much easier to get people to respond to a disaster than to the ongoing redevelopment needs that extend long beyond the need for immediate relief.

The one thing that we can be sure of is that this is not God’s judgement for past evils committed in Haiti as was suggested by Pat Robertson…. if that were the case all of our cities and our lives would be lying in ruins far worse than the situation in Port au Prince.

Our God is at heart a God of love and compassion.  We do not understand why events like this happen but we do know that in the midst of such devastation people need to see God’s love – a love so great that it endured the pain of death by crucifixion.  A love so great that it will do everything possible to draw us closer to the heart of God.  May we in our response to this disaster be representatives of this God.