Shaun Groves
I was to visit Haiti this month with Compassion. But then this happened…
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) – Haitians erected fiery barricades and tried to storm the National Palace on Tuesday as protests against rising food prices, which have killed five people, paralyzed the impoverished nation’s capital.
Some demonstrators in the city carried empty plates to show the government they had nothing to eat.
U.N. peacekeepers fired rubber bullets and tear gas to control the angry mob after the protesters used large steel garbage containers as battering rams to try to smash the gates of the palace in downtown Port-au-Prince, witnesses said.
Several people were injured by rubber bullets, including two local journalists, the witnesses said, adding that troops swarmed the area in armored personnel carriers and trucks, clearing out the demonstrators.
“If the government cannot lower the cost of living it simply has to leave,” said protester Renand Alexandre. “If the police and U.N. troops want to shoot at us, that’s OK, because in the end if we are not killed by bullets we’ll die of hunger.”
In other news, rumor is Apple’s releasing a 32GB iPhone in May for only $599!
Kenyon says:
Anne Jackson has a disturbing news report from MSNBC posted on her blog today. I would encourage everyone to watch it. I felt lead to write my representative asking him to take some kind of action today to end this travesty….HUMANS EATING DIRT…give me a freaking break! How can we even sit here and conciously go about “life”?
Kenyon says:
P.S. Confession: I threw out salad the other night because I didn’t want to put in the fridge!
Shaun Groves says:
CLICK HERE to go to that page of Anne’s blog.
john in colorado says:
it’s tough, no doubt. many of us see people rioting and hear reports of corruption and wonder how sending money will help. sponsoring a child sounds like the best option i can think of.
this question from mark beeson seems appropriate when thinking of $600 iphones, “Did you accept Jesus into your life, or did you give your life to Jesus?”
my variation: “did you invite Jesus into your life, or did he invite you into his?”
Dr. Rus Jeffrey says:
This makes me sad, and at the same time, long to go back to Haiti again. I’ve been there twice, in the early 1990’s, leading college student trips.
Thanks for the reminder of what’s going on there Shaun.
Dr. Rus
Jason_73 says:
Forget the iPhone you should save your money for the $100 cup of coffee from the rare beans that are harvested in monkey poop.
http://tinyurl.com/4j6zpo
Meanwhile, 98% of the world live on… oh, nevermind.
Brandy says:
I’ve restarted this comment four times, because words just aren’t adequate. I read Anne’s post as well, and was moved to post on my own blog. It’s amazing that events that would have once seemed so distant now seem so close.
Grovesfan says:
This is beyond sad. I long to go to Haiti to visit one of our sponsored children there. He’s been ‘ours’ for over two years now and although we have three, I seem closer to him somehow. Maybe because we’ve had him the longest. I actually ache to hold him sometimes and to think that he is living in the middle of this just breaks my heart. He recently moved from a rural area to a village much closer to Port-au-Prince. I long to be with him and his family so much. Hopefully I will be able to visit them one day. For now, I’ll keep sponsoring him and praying for all of them.
Beth
Linda Sue says:
A question of lasting value – is there a lasting value in owning a pocket phone costing more than what it would take to save the lives of human beings? Scripture makes life so clear- store up treasures in heaven – no rust, no thieves, no insurance expense and you’ll see it again. (I paraphrase) Thank you for posting about a tragic situation – we can pray and write to our legislators.Which do I honestly believe will work? Am I writing “Dear Heavenly Father” to Congressperson Kay Granger?
Biscuet says:
After a few minutes of frantic frustration and heartache i am now breathing some relief. For a moment, i thought you wrote about this great tragedy and then ended with your excitement about a new phone. It broke my heart. Then, i realized that you were being sarcastic and showing the contrast of our two worlds. This relieves me. Because, i’ll admit, i was mad. I was ready to go on a rampage in this comment. But i’m calm and collected now. The tragedy in Haiti is mind-blowing. I’m on the board of directors for a non-profit who will be going there in a few months to create a video and photo documentary on the situation there. Maybe i will let you know how that goes, or if you want more info about that documentary, the non-profs website is http://www.bedouinsinternational.org
I wonder what else we can do to help besides blow the whistle throughout the blogosphere… i’ll be thinking.
anne jackson says:
revenue from iphones over 500 million dollars. just sayin.
Rachel says:
This is perplexing, to say the least. So much in our world is out of order and does not make sense. People starve while Apple makes millions off something we can fully live without (and are probably better off without, for that matter). I don’t consider myself as one who has a flagrant or excessive lifestyle, but I still sigh at the thought that there is so much more that could be done to make right the tragedies like the one in Haiti.
I sponsor one child in Uganda, but I wish I could sponsor all the kids in the world. Or maybe just build a massive house and feed and love and provide for all the hungry, hurting, homeless folks. Sounds a lot like Heaven, eh? I guess that’s evidence that eternity is in our hearts.
Thank you, Shaun.
Anthem says:
Thats interesting how Microsoft was in the “iPhone” market for years with their operating system and yet their Pocket PC’s are not as successful as iPhone. I think the main issue is the manufacturers of the clunky, bulky, hard to use pocket pc hardware. Now I believe we will see a lot of iPhone copy cats
Allan W. says:
Good points. Consider: If I didn’t have my iPhone, I would never have seen this post. It’s only a tool, but connects me in ways I just wouldn’t have (or have time for) any other way. I can now highlight these events in Haiti more effectively.
(Dons asbestos suit
Nathaniel says:
It has been really ethereal and scary to read what has been going on in haiti recently. I went there the week of mar 8-15. I went there and everything was normal, or at least as normal as things could be. I hear stories of mobs attacking UN bases near the place we stayed and to hear that people are being shot at… it just blows my mind. It also blows my mind that not that many missionaries go to haiti anymore. It has been unsafe, yes, I agree. But isn’t that more incentive to go? If the country is falling apart, shouldn’t we go and share Christ’s love all the more? I would encourage y’all to think about going to haiti. Love on them. That’s what they need.
One final thought: to send a child to school for one year and give them 1 meal a day at school costs 60 american dollars. for one year. That’s the cost of your cell phone bill in one month. That’s just something to think about…