A New Part of My Story

In fewer than two weeks from today, I will join a small group of people who are making an immeasurable difference in the lives of many thousands.  Through an organization called I Am Change and their clean water initiative Hydrate Hope I will be taking part in providing clean drinking water for tens of thousands of people in Haiti, while also helping to establish long-term employment and sustainability by helping build a bio-sand filter factory near Port-au-Prince.  This factory will give employment opportunities to local people and will manufacture bio-sand filters that will provide families with clean water for decades.  The work we will do in our six days in Haiti will not magically change the world.  But what we will help establish will, for a very long time to come, provide clean water, employment, and, most importantly, hope.

I hope that the plight of the poorest of the poor in Haiti is not far from your mind.  It’s likely you’ve watched or read the news stories.  Maybe you know someone who has worked there or is working there now to help.  Perhaps you’ve already even donated financially to the rescue and rebuilding efforts.  I hope you have — the people of Haiti are desperate for your help.

But if your heart breaks daily over the pain and fear and devastation that the Haitian people have experienced and want to help further, please support us.  In order for us to establish the systems that we are trying to create for the long-term rebuilding and redemption of Haiti, we have great needs.  Not the least of these is financial.  If you have watched the news or heard the sound bytes, you know that a texting campaign from the Red Cross has already raised over $20,000,000.00 in less than a week.  That’s huge!  People are giving generously, and that money is making a marked difference in the lives of suffering Haitians.  But let me point out another mind-boggling fact here about the Red Cross texting campaign :: not one of those donations was greater than $10.

Just because you don’t have ten grand in a cookie jar or under the mattress, or a stock portfolio to rival Warren Buffet’s doesn’t mean that your donation can’t make a huge difference.  Ten bucks — three lattes — can mean a world of difference for someone whose greatest and most immediate need is drinkable water.  So please think and pray about giving to I Am Change and Hydrate Hope.

Another need we have is your prayers.  We do not leave for this trip without a healthy amount of caution.  We are not going on a vacation.  We are not going to a safe place.  We are going where we are called; to the place with the greatest need.  And we believe that our God has gone before us and has orchestrated every step of our journey.  We struggle against fear and in moments our faith is tested.  But we know what we are to do.  Likewise, our wives and children will not be waiting for us at home without the slightest bit of apprehension.  They, too, will need your support and encouragement.  Please pray for our safety, for favor with the existing governmental authorities, and for the effectiveness of our mission and ministry in Haiti.

We know that God is greater than anything we will face, and He will provide for us and protect us as He will.

We know that we, a very small group, can make a huge difference in the lives of hurting and suffering people.  We are confident that God will provide for us as we go.  We are sure that He will use some of you for that provision.

peace.

chipgillespie
iamchange.org