Amazing Grace For Today, Inc.

To DONATE to OPERATION GRACE FOR HAITI, simply make your check or money order payable to Amazing Grace For Today, Inc., and mail it to:

AGFT, Inc. 

P.O. Box 312, Conyers, GA 30012

On 1-12-10, Haiti experienced a tragedy the scale of which is immeasurable by any human standards – a holocaust not caused by human hands.  First, we would like to extend our condolences to all who have experienced loss during this tragedy.  You are in our prayers. 

For the past twelve days since a 7.0-magnitude earthquake has hit the country, followed by several aftershocks, people in the US and around the world have been riveted to their television screen, and they have been watching, in horror, endless hours of the heart-wrenching scenes of the collapsed houses, the crumbled government buildings, the piled-up bodies, the procession of people raising their arms to Heaven in a desperate gesture of dismay.  Pictures of the impoverished nation’s lot, after the main earthquake, have been exposed for the world to see what many think is a result of the wrath of an angry God.

            Whether or not this is the case, is not for us to debate at this time when people are in extreme need of food, water, shelter, medication, and clothing.  As Christians, we are already aware that the most important need for any human being is to have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, His Son.  We already know that our sins are punishable in this life as well as in the life to come.  The urgency we are faced with is to preach the gospel to people who are destitute, disoriented, hungry, thirsty, naked, and homeless.  Never before have we faced such a pressing and urgent need.

            In the past twelve days, we received stories of lives miraculously saved as well as stories of horror.  We will spare you readers any vivid description, but the tales are horrific, and their description goes beyond what words may express or what camera lenses can transmit.  What is more important in this very minute is that we HELP!  We must help with products of first necessity.  There are people who reportedly have not eaten even a morsel of bread since the initial earthquake.  There is the opposite story of one survivor who lived on cookies, cola and beer, and who was pulled from the rubbles of the grocery store where he worked as a clerk.  Was he then better off under the debris than on firm ground? 

We have contacted people who run NGO’s where they fed the hungry prior to the disaster, and we were told that it is a total chaos: there is absolutely no structure put into place to distribute the food brought by the relief organizations.  Most people are in survival mode, and many are afraid even to go in the lines for fear that after they had acquired their ration, someone either armed or stronger might come and wrestle the food away from them.  They are traumatized, they are terrified, even terrorized, and they are tired.  Some are overlooked in the distribution of food, and they will be our primary target of reach.

            While we need to keep them in prayer, we must also act fast.  As it is, officers/members of AGFT have contributed through other organizations, and/or directly through family members.  However, we want to reach those who are unreachable at this time.   We want to reach them now, and also in the future.  We realize that right now all eyes are on Haiti, but we also know that the day is fast approaching when people seating in front of their TV will go on sensory overload.  Then reporters will put their journalistic tools back in their case, the international aid will stop coming, the relief organizations will slow down their efforts, the interest in assisting will wane, and the rest of the world will go back to business as usual.   The many remaining orphans will be scarcely remembered, the widows and widowers will mourn unheard, people will still be in macabre conditions: they will still be hungry, thirsty, sick, naked and traumatized.

            Our target is to establish a permanent base in Haiti by which assistance in all areas will be ongoing.  We will be contacting those of you who will want to volunteer your time and your talent to help those much less fortunate than we.  The word of God says in 1 Corinthians 6:20 and 7:23 that “we were bought with a price,” so we are not our own, and also in 1 Corinthians 4:7, Paul told the Church that everything anyone has is something that was received from God.  Let’s put two and two together: if you are a Christian, what you have materially, even your own body, does not belong to you, but it belongs to God.  If you are not a Christian, know that what you have has still been given you by God, even your desire to participate in this humanitarian endeavor.

            Your primary responsibility, of course, is to take care of your family first, and at the same time, for the Christian, it is also to pay your tithes to God through your church.   Some of you are already overextended as you take care of family at home and in Haiti.  The global economic recession has hit others of you, but you are still all blessed. 

As God has blessed you, would you reach out and bless others much less fortunate?  I am so glad that I do not have to go out of my way to try to convince you with any type of visual aid, for our hearts are already fused together by this tragedy that hit home.  What we do promise is to report to you the donors how your dollars are being spent, and how your goods are being distributed.  All the people who work with us will be required to take care of their own expenses for the trips—with some minor exceptions, so that your donations are fully used for the cause for which they will be intended.

            Now let me explain to you how YOU can HELP.  First, pray for God’s will to be done, for safety and for the trips to accomplish their purpose.  Second, you may give financially by sending your check or money order to:  AGFT, Inc.  P. O. Box 312, Conyers, GA 30012, making it payable to Amazing Grace For Today, Inc., or go to our website : www.amazinggracefortoday.com .  Select the “ Haiti Donations” page, and use the PayPal button to give.  Third, if you desire to contribute by sending clothes, medications, and/or food, get the stuff ready in a box (or boxes), and be on the lookout for our next email on what to do with it (or them).  Just ensure that the food itself is neither expired nor a perishable item.  Fourth, continue to pray for our operations to go smoothly, as we know that Haiti will be on a bumpy road to recovery.

            We want to rejoice with you if you received some good news, and we mourn with those who suffered loss of loved ones.

            May God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, richly bless you and your family. 

Ronald Stimphil