With all the discussion of misguided efforts to help in Haiti, the Chalmers Center at Covenant College is stepping forward with what will almost certainly be a tremendously helpful webinar series to help churches, relief agencies, and individuals think through how to best help the Haitian people to take ownership of the rebuilding process.

From the Chalmers Center:

The webinars are scheduled for February 17th, February 24th, and March 3rd, from 1 to 2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (US).  They will be presented by Steve Corbett and Dr. Brian Fikkert, authors of “When Helping Hurts:  How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor…and Yourself,” a paradigm-shifting book about the causes and solutions to the problem of poverty. The book is in its fifth printing since it was published in July 2009 (www.whenhelpinghurts.org).

This webinar series is intended for all those responding to the needs of the Haitian people, including churches, missions boards, missionaries, ministries, Christian relief and development organizations, NGOs, individuals, volunteers, donors, and short-term missions teams. The webinars will help participants:

1. Gain an understanding of the harm that can come from an improper understanding of the nature of poverty and its alleviation.
2. Identify the basic principles and tools needed to develop relationships with low income individuals.
3. Be able to implement biblically-based economic development ministry programs.

The principles taught in the webinars are not a magic formula for success. However, they are powerful, and they have been used by God in even extremely difficult settings (including in the tsunami of 2004 as described in the book).

Registration

There is no charge for the webinars. However, to join a live webinar session, you must register. Register Now »

If you cannot join a live webinar, a download link of the recorded webinar will be posted on the webinar registration page within two business days following the date of the live webinar session.

An article in yesterday’s Miami Herald captures one particularly heart-breaking edge of Haiti’s pain:  the anguish of parents who feel they have no capacity to care for their own children.  Even as the first hints of “compassion fatigue” start to show and news programs flash images of Haiti a bit less frequently with each day, the need–if anything–only grows deeper:

Nearly four weeks after the earthquake, Port-au-Prince remains a place defined by ruin, smoke, dust, stink, chaos, hunger, tears. But the most telling measure of the escalating despair afflicting Haiti comes in three stark words: Take my child.

Herald reporter Kathleen McGrory walks into a sprawling, filthy, stinking survivor camp this past week, not far from the Port-au-Prince airport. In a place where hope has been reduced to a desiccated memory, the sight of a American woman provokes unfathomable requests.

“Take my child away. Take my child to America.” Not the words of one or two parents. Kat’s besieged by a tragic chorus. At first, about 10. “Then I was swamped. Suddenly, there were 40 or 50 people.”

They said: “You’d like my baby.”

“My girl would make a great daughter. She is very obedient.”

Across town. Same day. Another camp. Another place choking on its own filth, where the smell crawls across your flesh and into your hair like a rodent. Kat enters in pursuit of a story about parents begging orphanages to take their children. Instead, she encounters more parents begging her to take their child away from Haiti. “My little boy doesn’t get in trouble,” a father tells Kat. “He works hard.”…

The situation surrounding the arrest of the Idaho missions group in Haiti is highly significant–both for those involved, and symbolically.  As I expressed in a recent Christianity Today article, all who care about orphans should take strong lessons from what occurred.

At the same time, this situation has also taken far more media attention than it should.  One would almost imagine that the other several hundred thousand orphans and vulnerable children in Haiti are all doing well…and will be just fine as long as they can be protected from misguided American philanthropy.

Of course, this is not the case.  The need remains crushing.   As I’ve heard through people on the ground in Haiti,even those children that have been rounded up into the large U.N. camps designed to keep unaccompanied minors safe and begin the reunification process remain highly vulnerable–perhaps especially so, since, according to local observers, the sites teeming with hundreds and even thousands of children often have no guards at night.

That said, the Idaho group remains a matter of serious discussion.  So, it’s worth at least contemplating the thoughtful argument put forward in the following blog post.  It highlights especially the complexity of human need and the tangled familial relations many orphans experience.

We’ve shared with you before on this blog about the remarkable “Safe Families” vision of Christian Alliance for Orphans’ member Lydia Homes, led by Dr. David Anderson, in Illinois.  Dr. Anderson’s “Safe Families” model allows families on the verge of having their children taken by the state to voluntarily allow the children to be placed temporarily with volunteer families.  Thus, it greatly reduces the number of children going into the state foster system, instead connecting these children (and often their parents, too) with a caring family that desires to help them through a difficult time and, ultimately, reunite as a healthy family.  Last year, roughly 1,000 children were served by these volunteer “Safe Family” families in Illinois.  Already, Alliance member organizations have begun to replicate this remarkable model in seven states.  Now, the Oregon legislature is considering a bill that would authorize an official state pilot project of the Safe Families model in Oregon.  This would enable caring families that wish to serve as “Safe Families” homes to do so.    It’s also worth noting that Dr. Anderson will be presenting at Summit VI on how  organizations and churches can replicate this model in their communities as well.

Jedd Medefind: Together 4 Adoption is part of the Alliance coalition that’s leading the Haiti Orphan Rescue Team. Tell us about it.

Dan Cruver: God’s given the church the responsibility to care for orphans. Orphan care is in the church’s DNA. Sometimes it’s dormant.  But over the past 4-5 years God’s been awakening that portion of the church’s DNA. It’s a bona-fide movement now.  The Haiti Orphan Relief Team (HORT) is evidence of this movement. What Haiti & its orphans need most is the church. HORT’s purpose is to connect U.S. churches with Haitian churches, to come alongside them for the sake of Haiti’s orphans…

Jedd Medefind: How does this fit with your Church-Centered Haitian Orphan Care Initiative?

Dan Cruver: Our objective is to mobilize U.S. churches by the gospel to be the Haitian church’s hands/feet to care for its orphans.  We’re seeking to do this in two ways.  (1) writing blog posts that help Christians look at Haiti’s orphan crisis through a gospel lens. Ex: http://bit.ly/czmLUm.  (2) by harnessing our sphere of influence to connect churches with tangible & long-term ways to care for Haiti’s orphans.  What I love about HORT is that it’s centered on the gospel & provides tangible, long-term ways to care for Haiti’s orphans.

Jedd Medefind: What kind of response are you seeing?

Dan Cruver: Many churches across denominational lines have contacted us. Most encouraging is the number of pastors that have inquired.  But initial response must turn into long-term engagement. The gospel is the power to do this & HORT serves as a mechanism.  HORT provides gospel-driven churches with the opportunity to connect with Haiti’s churches in tangible, long-term ways.

Jedd Medefind: So many Christians are ready to open their hearts and homes to meet the great need.  What is your primary advice for Christians who want to help?

Dan Cruver: There are two critically important ways for Christians to help Haiti’s orphans right now. Pray and give…  Pray: God is a helper and father to the fatherless. So praying to Him about Haiti’s orphans is essential, critical.  Give: In his providence, God’s already put reputable relief organizations on the ground in Haiti. Regularly give to them.  Lord willing, HORT will provide opportunities for substantial, long-term engagement with Haiti.

Jedd Medefind: You’ve recently written about needing “Gospel patience” when considering adopting from Haiti.  What do you mean?

Dan Cruver: Adoption’s A PIECE of the solution to Haiti’s orphan crisis. But it likely won’t be in play any time soon.  So, if families think God may be calling them to adopt from Haiti, it will require significant patience and endurance.  Only the gospel can produce the necessary patience and endurance. I explain what I mean here: http://bit.ly/8MA61O.

Jedd Medefind: We are looking forward to having you join us for #SummitVI in April.  What are you speaking on?

Dan Cruver: My breakout title for #SummitVI is “A Lifelong Love: Keeping the Gospel at the Center of Orphan Ministry”.  What we’ll do in my breakout is look at how the gospel creates and sustains orphan care ministry.  Without the gospel, the danger is that orphan care ministry will be a mere flash in the pan & not a permanent movement.  It’s through the gospel that God does his redemptive work. So, the gospel must be central to the orphan care movement.

Jedd Medefind: What would you say to folks who are trying to decide if #SummitVI is for them?

Dan Cruver: #SummitVI provides an unmatched opportunity to connect with & learn from those God has uniquely gifted in orphan ministry.  The orphan care movement is a gospel-movement, and #SummitVI will help you connect with others within the movement.

Visit Jedd Medefind and Dan Cruver on Twitter!

Join me on Twitter today at 1:30pm EST as I chat with Dan Cruver, Together for Adoption.  Follow @orphanalliance and @dancruver as we discuss the church response to Haiti.    Do you have questions or thoughts on this?  Tweet us!

As Haiti’s crisis unfolds, of top priority for the Christian Alliance for Orphans is to promote immediate response while also encouraging commitments that will last long after the TV cameras have turned to other matters.

The Haiti Orphan Relief Team (HORT) is a collaborative effort of Alliance member organizations to do just this, with focus on partnering U.S. churches with Haitian churches to care for orphans.  Lead coordination is being provided by World Orphans, in partnership an array of Alliance members and a team of disaster response experts from the University of North Carolina.

An initial HORT on-the-ground team will deploy for a two week period beginning on February 14, 2010.  In addition to more immediate response & recovery efforts, the team will work to identify churches in Haiti that can be paired with U.S. churches for ongoing partnerships in caring for orphaned children.  Alliance organizations will also provide ongoing support and guidance to these church-to-church partnerships to ensure healthy, effective long-term partnership.

For individuals and churches interested in being part of this initiative, we invite you to:

1. Register for further information - If you have interest in the possibility of partnering your church with a Haitian church, enter your information on the “Awakened by Haiti” page and answer “yes” to question one.
2. Pray – Pray for the churches in Haiti the HORT team will be working with, and for the HORT team as they travel, serve and lay foundation for the long term initiative.
3. Support Financially – You can donate several ways – send a Valentine eCard or give a gift at www.haitiorphanrelief.org.
4. Advocate – Spread the word about HORT via its blog based information center, via HORT’s Facebook page, viaTwitter (@haitiorphan) or via e-mail. If you belong to a church, let your pastor know that HORT is looking for U.S. churches interested in partnering with the churches of Haiti.

Amidst the appropriate focus on Haiti’s orphans, it’s good to be reminded of the great need of children that don’t have families here in the U.S. as well.  A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of meeting Denise Kendrick, a remarkable Texan with a gracious presence and kind smile.  Denise is one of the 15 members of the Christian Alliance for Orphans’ new “Church Orphan Ministry Council,” which is helping the Alliance lay foundation for its upcoming initiative focused on helping local churches create and grow adoption, foster and global orphan ministry.  Denise is also one of the leaders of Embrace, the foster care and adoption ministry at Rhea’s Mill Baptist Church in McKinney, Texas.   Embrace’s “Sketching Floor” concept is a remarkable approach to ministry.  What’s equally remarkable is that their church is a congregation of just around 250 people.  Despite the church’s modest size, Embrace is now actively helping other churches (often many times their size) develop effective orphan ministry.  Our friends at Tapestry recently carried an article on Embrace that shares a bit more of their story…

Read today’s Chrisitanity Today guest editorial from Alliance President Jedd Medefind on the Idaho Christian group arrested for taking orphans out of Haiti without authorization.

Newswires buzzed recently with reports that a group of ten Americans from an Idaho-based Christian charity were arrested trying to transport 33 Haitian children into the Dominican Republic contrary to the rules of Haiti’s government. Although details are still emerging, the story thus far suggests a potent mingling of good intentions with ill-advised plans. Fellow Christians embarrassed by the incident should have the grace to withhold the abuse many observers are now piling on the group, but we can still take a strong lesson on the need to match zeal with knowledge in every effort to “care for orphans in their distress.”  More…

The Christian Science Monitor today includes further analysis of the efforts of ten Americans from an Idaho-based charity to bring 33 Haitian children out of the country.  The group was stopped at the border and arrested for seeking to remove the children without government approval.

As quoted in the Monitor article, the group’s goal was to “rescue Haitian orphans abandoned on the streets, makeshift hospitals or from collapsed orphanages in Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas, and bring them to New Life Children’s Refuge in Cabarete, Dominican Republic.”  This “Refuge” in the Dominican Republic, it appears was actually a temporary facility being operated out of a hotel, and the group planned to construct an orphanage and other facilities over time.

It is always important to avoid over-quick judgment as a story filters out piecemeal via media reports.  However, the emerging details seem to indicate a serious case of individuals charging in to do good with the best of intentions—yet lacking informed guidance and discernment regarding the best and wisest way to approach the situation.   It is no small tragedy that a single story like this one can become exhibit number one against countless other far more informed efforts to aid orphans, from volunteer-led service projects to international adoption.

Even so–and despite the very real harm their well-intentioned actions may cause over time–the American group, now incarcerated in Haiti, deserves our prayers that good will yet come to them and for orphans through it all.