Haiti catastrophe: a time to pray, give, learn from heroism

Like most Americans, I couldn't stop watching the news reports streaming from Haiti after the devastating earthquake there recently. The distressing sights and sounds grabbed my heart and won't let go. Demolished buildings and broken bodies ... still-stunned survivors and frantically searching rescuers ... bewildered children crying for missing parents and famished adults desperately reaching for scarce provisions ... these haunting images will stay with me for a long time.

That's as it should be. I hope I don't quickly "get over" what happened in Haiti.

There seems to be something in us that needs to process this kind of mass tragedy, to assign meaning to the loss, to regain emotional and spiritual equilibrium after the jarring blow such suffering brings to our fellow human beings.

I don't know that any of us can fully wrap our minds around these kinds of catastrophes. I can't, and I'm repulsed by those who try to assign blame or offer neat little theological platitudes in the face of such vast anguish.

I bring my outrage and my unanswered questions, and sit with them in the presence of a God who chose to enter and experience firsthand the pain of humanity. I find comfort in one of the shortest verses in the Bible, "Jesus wept." (John 11:35). However, not being able to comprehend the magnitude of this calamity doesn't prevent me from responding to it.

As a woman of faith, a Christ follower, I'm trying to respond in a couple of ways. The first has been to take action by praying and giving.

To me, praying is not just a form of wishful thinking. It's engaging in an authentic spiritual activity that makes a profound difference in earthly outcomes. If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't pray. I don't know all the reasons why and how prayer works (except that God has offered us this gracious access to his presence) — I just know it does.

So I prayed for comfort for the dying, strength for those doing search and rescue, peace for those who've lost friends and family, wisdom for those coordinating relief efforts, healing for the injured, and blessing on those offering medical care. As I watched scene after scene of the devastation, prayers formed in my heart, almost without will, and fashioned a petition for divine intervention.

My reaction started with prayer but didn't stop there. Joining many other generous hearts around our nation, I texted the word "Haiti" to 90999, then looked for a reputable relief organization (for me, ConvoyofHope.org) where I could give further.

My response has been to learn from the heroes in this tragedy, and there are many. One vivid scene from a TV news report stands out to me. The footage showed a Haitian woman, one hand holding a bullhorn and the other upraised in worship, leading those who had lost so much in songs of praise. The rest of the story is that her anxious daughter from New Jersey had been trying unsuccessfully to contact her when she saw the news footage.

In a phone interview with a reporter, she described the moment she knew her mom was alive: "I heard the singing, which caught my attention, and I looked up at the screen. There was this woman standing with this bullhorn. When I looked I said, 'Wait a minute, that's Mom!' "

None of us knows exactly how we would respond if we were the survivors of such devastation. I can only hope and pray that if, God forbid, my children were ever searching for me after such loss, they would find someone as strong and courageous as that Haitian mom with the bullhorn, with my faith intact and a song of hope on my lips.

I may never meet her in this life, but I'm deeply grateful for her example, something else I hope I don't "get over" quickly.

Jodi Detrick is a minister with the Northwest Ministry Network (Assemblies of God). She is also a public speaker, an author and a life coach.