How Now Shall We Give?
One of the questions I've been asked repeatedly over the last two weeks is this: What can we do to help the victims of the earthquake in Haiti?
The answer isn't as straightforward as you might think.
Americans - and especially American Christians are the most generous people group on the planet. When we see people in trouble, we do what we can to help - it's part of who we are. But in addition to being generous, we need also to be wise - so that the money we send will do the most good for the most people.
PLEASE DON'T GO TO HAITI ANYTIME SOON.
Thousands of churches across the United States are already planning short-term missions' trips to Haiti in the near future. This is a mistake. Here's why:
1. Haiti's infrastructure is almost non-existent. You aren't going to find a hotel that will be able to accommodate your group, those that weren't destroyed by the quake are completely full of aid workers, journalists, and are even being used as makeshift hospitals.
2. Resources are scarce, and getting scarcer - any food, water, or toilet facilities your group would require are desperately needed by Haitians. When I was in Haiti last week, I was shocked to meet dozens of Americans who, with the best of intentions, simply hopped a plane to the Dominican Republic and made their way into Haiti to "help." Unfortunately, they were spending most of their time wandering around the airport mooching food, water and internet off of more established ministries like Mission Aviation Fellowship, which has been working in Haiti since 1986.
3. Well meaning, but stupid Americans are making things harder on everyone. I must have run across a half-dozen couples in the last week who came to Haiti after hearing a rumor that the doors to international adoption had been thrown wide open in Haiti. These naive couples hotfooted it to Port-au-Prince looking for a baby to bring home. Unfortunately, this is causing major problems with those who were in the process of legal adoption, and is causing tensions between the Haitians and the world community.
Adoption is a wonderful thing - but human trafficking is human trafficking.
Aid is not the answer.
The Haitian people are in desperate need of physical aid right now - but that's not what will fix their problems long term. Haiti has received over a billion dollars in foreign aid every year for nearly three decades - and even before the quake, it's ten times worse now than it was when I first visited there in 1986. This is due to several issues.
1. Corruption is endemic in Haitian culture. A vast majority of the aid sent to Haiti does not reach the intended recipients - those most needy of the population, but is first filtered through government corruptucrats who, as often as not, SELL the aid they are supposed to be giving away. And with billions flowing in all at once, the opportunity for fraud is higher than it has ever been.
2. The UN is worse than worthless. I've arrived at this conclusion after spending much of the past decade traveling to places that have been suffering under UN "peacekeeping" operations for years. The UN is often as corrupt as the Haitian government, and the Haitian people call them "criminals."
One unfortunate thing I saw this trip was the US military taking tons of aid into the country - and then turning it over to the UN. The Haitian people I interviewed were livid when they learned this. "We'll never see that aid!" they cried. They told me the only way the MINUSTAH troops will help them is if the people give them something - money, favors, or labor - in return.
On a trip to Haiti in 2008 I saw UN troops SELLING aid in the marketplace. The stuff they were supposed to be giving away. The people were surprised that I was surprised. "That's how it always is," they said.
The UN is, in my opinion, nothing more than a hopelessly corrupt, bloated bureaucracy whose liberal elite's visions for world peace are constantly thwarted by reality, not to mention "peacekeepers" who hail from countries who have never known peace.
3. Welfare doesn't work - even in Haiti. The welfare system in the US is good at one thing - fostering an "entitled victim" mentality that squelches work ethic, incites class warfare and discourages productivity. But for some reason we think it will "fix" what's wrong in Haiti. It won't.
What the Haitians need is a heart change.
The only thing that can change a culture for real and for good is redemption - the saving power of submitting to the will of our creator. Only Jesus can change the hearts of men. And Jesus is already at work in Haiti. Since the quake, over 11,000 people have called the country's evangelical radio station to pledge their hearts to Christ.
And therein lies our opportunity. If you are a Christian and would like to donate to help Haiti -please do so. But while the country has the eyes of the world's governments upon it, while billions in aid are pouring in from nations around the globe - let's focus OUR giving on the thing that will matter most - changing people's hearts. Let's focus our prayers and giving on church planting and evangelization.
Is meeting physical needs important? Absolutely. And Christians are foremost among those who meet physical needs around the world. But let's try to see beyond the physical needs and meet the deeper, spiritual needs that will, in the long run, fix many of the problems that Haiti (and the rest of the world) faces today. My prayer is that through this incredible tragedy, God will make the Haitian people "more than conquerors," taking this horrible event and making it the beginning of a new country that will bring glory to God.
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.