Answering The S.O.S
Would you believe I haven't watched the news in a week?! I'm usually a news freak. I can easily watch multiple hours of news per day with the afternoon news, the evening local news, ABC World News Tonight, then the 11pm local news and finally Nightline at 11:30pm. But for the past week, I haven't seen even one news cast. I've just been busy.
Tonight I turned on the news and saw the pictures of Katrina's wake. I've heard about Katrina. I've heard it's been bad. But I didn't realize it's been this bad.
I was moved by what I saw tonight; The Mayor of New Orleans has sent out a desparate S.O.S, thousands of people are sleeping in stadiums trying to find lost family members, reports of bodies floating everywhere and rats eating bodies in the street. Finally, there is the desparate exodus of 1/2 a million people to neighboring states.
Now I'm watching Nightline and it's worse. It seems that FEMA didn't act in time. The talk on multiple news stations tonight is, "Were we too late?" and the answer has been "Yes." In fact, even as I write this post, thousands camping out in the New Orleans Convention Center still aren't getting food and people are dying around them -- four days into this disaster.
So, I want to call us to pray and find ways to act. According to the Salvation Army, the greatest need right now is for money (not goods) and workers to help feed the hundreds of thousands of displaced people.
So, please check with organizations like World Vision, the Salvation Army and the Red Cross to find out how you can personally participate in the national answer to the S.O.S.
Second, if each person in America and around the world who's heard about Katrina's victims gave $15 or more directly to the relief charity of their choice we could raise the funds to meet the immediate needs of region. Tonight, I will go online and give to World Vision.
Finally, a prayer.
Dear Jesus,
Be with those who are living in absolute misery in America's deepest southtonight. Dear Lord, have mercy. Give our brothers and sisters food where there is no food. Give them drink where there is no drink. Give them medicine where there is no medicine. Give them comfort where there is no comfort.
And God, mobilize people to act. Bring the most experienced, the most skilled, the most equipped, the most resourced to the heart of this disaster. Deploy them, Lord. Guide their hands. Guide their feet. Free them from fear and immobilization. Loose their feet and use them to stop the tears of loss from flowing in Biloxi.
Bring buses, Lord. Bring cranes, Lord. Bring order, Lord. Stop the violence, Lord. Stop the looting. Stop the rapes, Lord. Rescue our brothers and sisters, Lord. Bring your shalom, Lord. Bring SHALOM, Lord.
Bring Shalom.
Amen.
posted by Lisa Sharon Harper @ 10:26 PM
2 Comments:
Thanks for reading the post, Hollybeth, and for your encouraging response. I'm continuing to watch the news and pray today.
I heard another extremely disturbing thing from my brother-in-law. Has anyone else heard the report that they had to release all the prisoners from a maxium security prison in the area? I heard on the news last night that the streets of New Orleans are a war zone (random killings and rapes). So, people are being told to stay on their roofs to avoid the danger on the streets. We need to pray for the future of that city, its citizens and all the neighboring states.
Lisa - thank you for this - the blog, and your writings and thoughts and outlook. It's sobering (in a good way) and uplifting at the same time. Very helpful and needed on a Friday like this. God bless...looking forward to keeping up.
And I did see pics at Yahoo I think of all of the prisoners huddled on a bridge. NOT a job I would want.
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