Written by Pastor Wayne Golden, Congaree Baptist Church
St. Matthews, SC
April 16, 2009

“Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be heard.” Proverbs 21:13 (NKJV)  This verse of Scripture has been echoing in my mind ever since I returned from Haiti three weeks ago.  While in Haiti, our mission team discovered so many needs.

Apart from the basic everyday needs these people have just to survive, we learned about hundreds of people living in the mountains who are now homeless because of the last hurricane (Hurricane Noel in November 2007).  Their plight is particularly disturbing because they have no way of rebuilding.  Some of these people take shelter under the few trees that are left on the mountains, some crowd into the small dwellings of relatives, while others scrape together whatever they can find to make a shelter to protect them from the elements. 

Other needs have to do with support for a girls’ home run by my long time friend Pastor Abraham Joseph.  Also, there is the school that I help Pastor Joseph start in the late seventies.  Currently several of the teachers are working with little or no pay.  Our church has been helping with the teachers' salaries since 2003.
 
I have been praying and contemplating how to help these people.  I realize that Haiti is not the only place in the world where people are suffering.  In fact, there are many people right here in our own county who don’t have enough food or even a decent place to live.  However, most if not all of the people here do have some resources to obtain a measure of help and assistance.  This is not the case in Haiti.  The people there survive day to day with no assistance from their government and tragically many don’t survive.

For the past week I have prayed and discussed the enormous needs we discovered during our mission trip with several people.  Some might think, “Well, Wayne you can’t save the world.”  I agree.  However, I have to ask myself, “Why not do all you can for as many as you can, for as long as you can?”  We cannot meet all the needs in Haiti, but that does not mean we should give up and do nothing.  I can’t do that.  I also realize that the help we can give and the help that is needed has nothing to do with being Baptist or any other denomination – it really has to do with a very basic principle that even our own country has practiced and continues to practice in giving humanitarian help to poor countries.  It’s the principles of compassion and sharing, and the understanding that on this little planet we are all neighbors.

My dilemma however is, “How can I help to these poor people?”  One very important thing I can do is pray!  I am praying and the people of our church, Congaree Baptist, are praying that God will provide the financial means for us to meet some of these needs.  The second thing I can do is write and inform people that not too far from us on a little island in the Caribbean are people who are suffering tremendous hardships.  I can appeal to all who have a heart of compassion and ask that they search their hearts and give.  Some reading this article may not be able to give financially, but you can pray.  Others who learn about this need can give.  It would not surprise me at all if there are at least fifty people reading this article who could give a thousand dollars and never really miss it! 
           
Any money that is given will be used to meet the many needs we encountered during our trip.  I will be personally responsible for making sure the money is used to meet these needs.  We will take what is given, and I will go to Haiti and oversee each step of the process of bringing some relief to these desperate people.  If any one reading this article would like to help and you want more information please call me.  I can be reached at the following numbers:  Church office (803) 655-7451; Home (803) 655-5474 or my cell phone (803) 378-3872.  You can make your check payable to Congaree Baptist Church – Haiti Mission Project OR Promised Provision Ministries, PO Box 6237, Brandon,  FL  33508.  You may also make a donation online at www.promisedprovision.org/donate.html

We are praying and trusting God to provide the financial means that will bring some help and hope to the people in the mountains who lost their homes and to address other urgent needs as funds are available.