Thoughts of Glory

Last night I spent about 3 hours and then some time this morning trying to help make connections with a group on the ground in Haiti with a group of dying babies in an orphanage that was ruined in the earthquake.  Who would ever have thought that Twitter would be a major vehicle to connect people with those in need in a disaster.  As a result of my watching twitter last night I came across a young pastor from Atlanta who was the "twiiter master" as his contact in Haiti called him.  With passion and knowledge he rolled up his sleeves and was moving mountains.

He voiced several frustrations about having to go around the "red tape" of organizations and governments.  I see it as the letter of the law.  Governments and organizations make rules and regulations as they should but in a disaster it seems to me that the letter of the law killeth and the spirit of the law gives life.  I sure don't have the answers but I know sometimes you just got to do what you got to do.

In defense of the organizations, Chuck and I have responded to a couple of big disasters in the US and have seen many incidents of people of both sides taking advangage of the system and draining the funds.  When we were in TX responding to Ike people would show up over and over to the supply stations and get the items and then turn around and sell them.  Also people were sent to work and they seemed to only come for a free ride.  So there are big problems that come with having big operations.

Below is a series of tweets that Shaun King, the pastor from Atlanta, sent out to share his thoughts.  I thought they were worth publishing to encourage anyone who feels to go and help the Haitian people or any other disaster response you may be involved with.

When the earthquake 1st hit, thousands of you immediately wanted to go and help BE the solution, be the hands & feet of God...

But you were told by the experts NOT TO COME. You were told to wait until some magical time when things were much better.

The experts were wrong. Some probably meant well because they didn't want you to get hurt or be in the way, but let me tell you what is missing in Haiti -passionate, hard-working, unskilled, loving, non-experts. They are in SHORT SUPPLY. I mean RARE.

Consequently, the MAJORITY of supplies are sitting unused & the teams of unskilled non-experts I am advising are regularly 9 days later, regularly the first people to have ever visited orphanages and disaster sites.

They ALL tell me that we should have...IGNORED the experts. Let me tell you a story that will kill you. The caretaker of the Notre Dame orphanage told @SpenceNix ...

She heard dozens of dying babies trapped in the rubble scream & cry for 5 whole days before they all died. 55 babies died. Nobody ever came.

One more tweet from me then I want to type you a quote from our team on the ground...

It is NOT TOO LATE.  If you feel CALLED to go to Haiti GO. GO! GOOOO! It is tough work, but GO! I will help you.

Next tweets are direct from our teams on the ground

"The growing feeling here in Haiti is that the BIG ORGS & government don't really care. It's like they are here b/c the world is focused here. If they care, little passion is ever displayed. Seems like a job or obligation. Even my sponsoring organization (name of large Christian org) pretty much just set up a tent, gave us a vest and stickers and said go. No support. No passion. No question large amounts of supplies are just sitting in boxes everywhere. I have seen them there for days while hurting people & doctors need them. 

This has opened my eyes wider to the wastefulness of large charities and benefit of small, nimble, passionate groups. I have been in Haiti for 6 days and I still have not seen one large Red Cross presence. I honestly think social media has saved more lives since the earthquake than all but 3-4 great organizations here now. Passion. Relationships. Technology has changed the game. We saved so many lives today and it was just us doing it bro." <<<<<End of quote..