If you would like to contribute financially to disaster relief in Haiti, Reston Bible Church will be accepting donations starting this weekend. We will give the funds through an organization called Community Coalition for Haiti. Community Coalition for Haiti is an interdenominational 501(c)(3) volunteer organization devoted to serving with the people of Haiti and surrounding areas to promote physical, educational, and economic development and faith in Jesus Christ. 100% of your donation will be used by CCH to help those in need in the areas of Haiti hit the worst by the earthquake.
To donate funds, leave a check in an offering box during the weekend services with "Disaster Relief" noted in the memo line. If you are already registered for online giving through CCB, you may designate "Disaster Relief" through the giving module. (Not set up for online giving? Contact Dale Peak, RBC Administrator).
If you prefer to donate directly to a relief organization without giving through RBC, we recommend the following:
Community Coalition for Haiti - www.cchaiti.org
Samaritan's Purse - www.samartitanspurse.org
Compassion International - www.compassion.com
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Pastor Mike released the following letter to the RBC family on January 14.
To the saints at RBC:
The world has again been hit with another tragic disaster. Haiti is under tons of rubble as the result of a horrific earthquake. Thousands upon thousands will die. There is a natural outcry from unbelievers as well as believers as to why God would allow such a tragic occurrence from nature. You are in good company. Moses asked this question, as did king David in the Psalms. All of us would love to have a nice answer to the problem of evil, but I am afraid it is held in the secret councils of God. ("The secret things belong to the Lord..." Deut. 29:29)
God is clear about the fact that all that He does is good and serves His sovereign purposes. We are finite and can't begin to fathom how such an event could possibly have anything good come from it. This is where we must trust in His ways, which are above our ways. As a pastor, I don't like to hide behind words like "mystery", "sovereignty" or "secret" - but this is the only place we can go, because it is all that God has revealed to us.
Several things to think about: If this earthquake had not occurred, would you have given the slightest thought to the starving masses in Haiti that were already there? Would you have given any thought to the magnitude of poverty in India? Would you have given a second thought to the AIDS epidemic engulfing Africa? Would you have given a passing thought to the sex trade of ten-year-olds in Thailand? Would it have crossed your mind that the number of people that will die in Haiti as a result of this earthquake will die collectively around the world due to similar circumstances within the next 24 hours? When tragedy is spread out, we pay little to no attention. We give no thought to the 25,000 people who lose their lives in traffic-related deaths each year, but when an airliner goes down with 250 people on board we ask "why?"
Could these tragedies be wake-up calls for those of us who live such soft lives here in the USA? I was thinking about the playoffs and making plans to take my wife out for surf-and-turf when 3.5 million people had their turf disrupted forever. I was wondering if I should take my Toyota Rav4 to the car wash when thousands had their lives washed out in an avalanche of concrete. I might add that during this disaster, I wanted my wife to pick up some new Brooks Brother's shirts for me as mine are a bit frayed, while millions of lives are frayed forever. No doubt about it, I feel like scum. I complain about everything from not having enough hot water to why I am forced to eat margarine because we are out of butter. "Stop bellyaching, Mike, and grow up" is what this tragedy has done for me.
Well, here is what we do know. The scriptures tell us to be content with what we have and to help those who have nothing. We will try to keep you up to speed as to what we as a body of believers can do for those in Haiti. In the meantime pray, pray pray.
Blessings.
Mike