The weekend of January 16/17, Brad announced to the church our response to help Haiti. Read the letter to the church below and then take this link to hear from Brad how NorthRidge is working through our compassion ministries to reach out to the world.

NorthRidge Family
 

We are sure by now you have heard about the Earthquake that recently hit Haiti. An estimated 3 million people have been impacted, tens of thousands have been killed or injured, and many remain trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings. Traumatized and grief-stricken, people wander the streets in a daze. On Tuesday night, many slept out in the debris-filled streets.

Even before this earthquake Haiti was said to be the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. Most of Haiti’s population lives on less than $2 a day.  In the United States, a cup of coffee typically costs more than $2 a day.  In many ways we are a world apart.

So what is our response?  At NorthRidge Church there are seven values that guide our vision and our actions.  The sixth value states our belief that “The Church most visibly evidences the love of Christ by ministering with compassion and care to the poor, sick, hurting, lonely, rejected and forgotten people of the world.”  Haiti’s poverty has merged with this natural disaster and a catastrophe is in process.

As the first response teams wade into the rubble, there are some critical action steps that we can begin to take.  Each of us can begin to pray for the people of Haiti and their immediate needs for medical help, shelter, clean water, and supplies.  We can also pray for the relief and emergency response organizations as they send in their teams. Travel and communication are proving difficult, and the earthquake has destroyed or damaged much of the critical infrastructure where the population is greatest. We need to pray, over the next day and weeks, for God’s hand to provide help, resources, access, and wisdom. 

Our church family continues to show its heart for our compassion ministries… we’ve received phone calls and emails over the past few days asking how we can get involved.  As you may recall our “Make It Yours” Christmas offering this year was part of our vision to build our compassion ministries.   In order to expand our capacity as a church to help in Haiti even more (and around the world),  if you desire, you can give towards this effort by designating money to the "Make It Yours" fund.  This weekend Brad will share in more detail how NorthRidge is responding. 

Though we hate the suffering that exists in our world, we remain thankful for a sovereign God who is in control and can work good even in the midst of this world’s chaos.  We believe His love, light, and goodness is being seen and shared by all those who are praying, giving, and going to help the Haitian people in this time of incalculable loss, pain, and crisis. As we have in the past with the devastation of Katrina and other world disasters, we at NorthRidge will join in this effort to bring light, love, and hope into the darkness by reaching out to Haiti with care and compassion in any way we can. This will involve combining our ability to provide for their physical needs along with seeking to open their eyes to their spiritual needs…their need for God’s love through faith in Jesus Christ.

Continue praying.

Make It Yours - Give Online

Learn more about giving online.