The OAK Weekly Letter Vol. 2 No.3 CMM Haiti Quake Relief Report
Dear Watchmen on the wall for America,
There were two earthquakes this week. One was political and the other was physical. One is likely to have cost hundreds of thousands of lives, which is what it now seems the count may be in Haiti. The other one, the political earthquake, probably saved that many lives, and maybe even many more.
The Earthquake That Gave Life
The election of the Republican Scott Brown to the senate seat vacated by the death of Ted Kennedy, probably the most powerful liberal senator of our times from what is probably the most liberal state in the Union, was no doubt one of the biggest political earthquakes of our times. This will save many lives.
Before explaining that, first we should all applaud the people of the great state of Massachusetts. The state that truly inspired the war for independence, and bore a huge amount of the cost of the war that gave birth to our country, has again demonstrated a remarkable devotion to independence of thought and action. Even the most conservative had to stand in awe at this demonstration of voting for principle over political expediency. Massachusetts may still be the bluest state in the country, but every red state has to salute, and stand in respect and deep appreciation for their great courage. This vote could ultimately have the impact of another "shot heard around the world." Thank you! Thank you! Thank you Massachusetts!
Obviously the common ground that all liberals and conservatives share is common sense. I know the respect gained by this vote among conservatives for Massachusetts could do a lot to make us all appreciate how we are all Americans and how we need each other. Every eagle has to have both a right and a left wing to fly.
The vote in Massachusetts was an obvious awakening that even though we almost all agree that healthcare reform is needed, the way in which the present Administration was seeking to do it would have been a tragedy. In fact, had this type of healthcare plan been passed and implemented it is likely the tragedy in human life would have been much worse than the Haiti earthquake every year in America. It would have been spread out over the whole nation, but likely would have meant depriving so many Americans of needed healthcare that we could have easily suffered more than a couple of hundred thousands unnecessary deaths a year from it. So this earthquake likely saved many lives instead of taking them.
The Earthquake That Took Life
I am the founder and Director of MorningStar Ministries. Last year CMM (Christ's Mandate for Missions) joined MorningStar adding over 500 missionaries, missions, orphanages, and schools in Asia, South and Central America, and Africa, to our mission outreach. We do have missions in Haiti, and have missionaries and teams there now who are having an impact. I get several reports from the ground there each day, and the situation is still very far from stabilizing. This is likely already the worst tragedy in our hemisphere ever, and when the final count is in, the fatalities could be far more than the hundred thousand being talked about now.
Whenever a tragedy like this strikes, I am always very proud and thankful to be an American. Wherever it happens, even in the nations considered our enemies, American aid will likely be the first to get there. It will likely be the most, and followed by an army of American volunteers who will even risk their lives to help others in desperate need. Even our enemies marvel at this characteristic about Americans. How can we care so much for other people, especially those who obviously do not like us? Is there another nation that has been like this in history? If there has, it certainly has never been to this degree.
This is something we should be very thankful for, and I pray we never lose it. It is rooted in that which is the best of America, and if we do lose it we have lost the soul of America. However, there is a fly in this ointment. It is American bureaucratic incompetence that can turn even the most well intended rescue and aid efforts into a bottleneck nightmare. It happened at Katrina, and it is happening in Haiti. It is also totally unnecessary.
MorningStar teams were some of the first on the ground at the Katrina disaster, and the way the heart of Americans responded was too wonderful to ever forget. The way that government bureaucratic incompetence started jamming up the needed aid and work was as shocking in a bad way as the good had been in a good way. Many blamed President Bush, but he had a lot to do with breaking up the logjam by sending in the army, which got the job done very fast in the first phase of recovery. That too should be a lesson. The army is a bureaucracy too, but organized for fast, effective action. Why aren't the rest of the bureaucracies organized this way?
I am not advocating the military taking over all bureaucracies in the government, but there is a lot that can be learned from our military about organization and management that could actually save many lives, and change a system that consumes the majority of its resources in fighting against completely unnecessary red tape. If those resources could instead be directed to real needs, we could easily balance our federal budget, and increase our aid to those in need. That is no fantasy, but sober truth.
Many had a lot of different issues with the proposed healthcare bills, but for many the biggest of all was just trusting our present government, run the way that it presently is, to run our healthcare system. They could not even run "Cash for Clunkers" without it becoming a bureaucratic nightmare. Even if they did have good intentions, our government would have destroyed our healthcare system had it been given into the hands of our bureaucrats with their present method of operation. Our healthcare costs would have skyrocketed at the same time both the quality and quantity of healthcare available would have plummeted.
The daily existence in Haiti for most of its citizens was on the level of what would be a disaster in most of the world. As tragic as this earthquake has been, it could turn into an opportunity for a nation to be reborn. Our ministry is mobilizing for this, working as hard as we can to help in the immediate crisis, but also committing ourselves for the long term. As bad as it is now, this earthquake could turn into one of the best things that could have happened for those who survive. That's what the gospel of redemption is.
The political earthquake we just experienced in Massachusetts could also be an opportunity for something of a new beginning in America. I know the red states in America are now so thankful for Massachusetts, as well as most of the blue states . All states were becoming alarmed at the direction our government was headed. Even though it seems the President and his Administration seem to still be in a shocking state of delusion about the reason for their rejection in the most unlikely of places, many of the bluest of our senators and congressmen and women have gotten the message, and are very humbly admitting they got off track.
God gives His grace to the humble, and so should we. God resists the proud, and so lets not gloat or become arrogant, lest this victory be turned into our own defeat. With the Administration itself acting quite callous to the remarkable political pounding they've been taking, we must also keep our guard up. The battle is far from won. This is about much more than healthcare.
Oak Chapters
We are making very good progress mobilizing and organizing The Oak Initiative each week. My intent is to address important lessons learned from this each week, and include some practical steps for organizing these chapters . However, I must ask for a little grace in this for the next couple of weeks because of so many things that are requiring a lot more of my personal time, some of which really can mean lives in Haiti at this time. I have very good people who are running these operations, but I do have to be engaged and stay in touch with what's happening so that I can make some of the decisions that only I can make for our team. Thanks for your understanding.
Also, if any of you would like to help us with our efforts in Haiti, please check out our websites at www.morningstarministries.org, and go to our Haiti Support page, or www.cmmissions.net. You can also call us at 1-800-542-0278. MorningStar absorbs all administrative costs for our operations so 100% of all donations go directly to meeting the needs in a disaster or to getting the people and supplies needed there.
Thanks.
Rick Joyner
Ref: MorningStar Haiti Relief Link
http://www.morningstarministries.org/PaymentGroup/Registration.aspx?payment_group_id=1000001410
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