Last night around 8 pm the president of Haiti announced the confirmation of two cases of coronavirus, immediately shut down schools, all flights, factories, adding a curfew, and discouraging gatherings of more than ten.
After such a challenging few months, after just announcing our major transition, to be meeting all together again this morning only to send everyone home was hard hard for everyone.
Our students were discouraged, our staff is discouraged...What. A. Season. So many unknowns.
We sent them out again, praying for those who are already hungry and will be hungrier, still. We prayed for those who were already living in troubled times, as the suffering deepens. We prayed for those who were already afraid, that He will be high and lifted up and made known. We prayed for what is already widespread insecurity, that He would watch over and protect. We pray for the church throughout Haiti, that has never been confined to a place.
Once again, this morning we sent out the Gospel, the beautiful feet that carry Good News in times of bad. We sent out the Light in a time of continual darkness.
Pray for Haiti, pray for Emmaus, pray for the body of Christ, everywhere she is.
Pray for us, as somehow we seek to finish well in a time when little is. Pray for our staff and students and family. Pray for wisdom and prudence and grace and peace. Pray for us to know how to be His hands and feet in such a difficult time. Pray for our students, staff, friends and families who have so many questions and so few answers.
Pray for peace in Haiti...His Peace.
We are thankful to KNOW that He has been with us...He is with us now.
We're thankful to know He's been in the timing, though it sure is making no sense to us. We're thankful for these men and women, for the family they have become with one another, for the love they show one another that encourages us all.
As we walked the empty campus tonight, praying for you, praying for them, praying for so much, the air was rich with His presence.
What else do we have?
What else do we need?
THANK YOU for all of your encouragement today, it brought us to tears many times. Thank you for praying with us in such a heavy time.
We are with you, praying.
In a world so wired and interconnected,
our anxious hearts are pummeled by
an endless barrage of troubling news.
We are daily aware of more grief, O Lord,
than we can rightly consider,
of more suffering and scandal
than we can respond to,
of more hostility, hatred, horror, injustice
than we can engage with compassion.
our anxious hearts are pummeled by
an endless barrage of troubling news.
We are daily aware of more grief, O Lord,
than we can rightly consider,
of more suffering and scandal
than we can respond to,
of more hostility, hatred, horror, injustice
than we can engage with compassion.
But you, Jesus, are not disquieted
by such news of cruelty and terror and war.
You are neither anxious nor overwhelmed.
You carry the full weight of the suffering
of a broken world when you hung upon
the cross, and you carry it still...
by such news of cruelty and terror and war.
You are neither anxious nor overwhelmed.
You carry the full weight of the suffering
of a broken world when you hung upon
the cross, and you carry it still...
...our arms are too short and our strength
is too small. Justice and mercy, healing and
redemption, are your great labors.
is too small. Justice and mercy, healing and
redemption, are your great labors.
Give us discernment
in the face of troubling news reports.
in the face of troubling news reports.
Give us discernment
to know when to pray,
when to speak out,
when to act,
and when to simply
shut off our screens
and our devices,
and to sit quietly
in your presence,
to know when to pray,
when to speak out,
when to act,
and when to simply
shut off our screens
and our devices,
and to sit quietly
in your presence,
casting the burdens of this world
upon the strong shoulders
of the one who
alone
is able to bear them up.
upon the strong shoulders
of the one who
alone
is able to bear them up.
Amen.
-Every Moment Holy, Douglas Kaine McKelvey
-Every Moment Holy, Douglas Kaine McKelvey
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