A prayer for Haiti

Dear God,

I acknowledge that you are God.  You didn’t stop being God when the sea roared and the mountains of Haiti fell into the sea.  You know each person who lies buried beneath that rubble, and you care about them even more than the frantic family members who are still searching for them.  We are horrified by the situation; we are overwhelmed by the magnitude of the logistics needed to bring help; we are heartbroken by the hunger and pain, especially of helpless children.  Your heart breaks for them too, but you are not overwhelmed.  

---

Lord, I pray for those on the ground.  Give them patience with one another even though they are all short on sleep.  Give them wisdom and creativity to find solutions to problems beyond our comprehension.  Give them physical strength to stand up to the challenges despite their own lack of good food, water and rest.  Free them from paralyzing fear each time the ground shakes, and enable them to trust you.

I pray for the Haitian people.  That land has suffered so much for so long.  May the hands of evil people, who would steal and kill and try to take advantage of disorder, be stayed.  May you raise up leaders, in local communities and at national levels, who will lead people, not only out of this temporary horror, but into a new era of just and righteous rule in a Haiti free of corruption, free of oppression, free of abuse. May those who know you, shine like lights in the darkness.  May those who don’t know you, see you in your power and your love and fall on their knees in worship.

Glorify your name in Haiti.  Glorify your name in Port-au-prince.  Glorify your name in the towns and villages around.  You are still God and I praise you.

Amen

[I have been following, the account of Troy and Tara Livesay, missionaries in Haiti who put a face on what is going on there.]