Cora's Prayer for Japan

Last night at dinner, Cora asked, "What is Japan?"

We told her it was a country that just had a very bad earthquake and floods.

Cora paused and said, "well we should pray for them."

Kate and I agreed, "we will tonight for bed."

Cora said, "no, right now."
(she of course was right, why put it off?)

So I asked her to pray, and it went like this...

Dear Japan,
Please help them to be safe
Please help them to be married
Please help Japan to get dry
Amen.


And there ya have it!
-Ross

Haiti Update (House of Hope)

Last year I had the opportunity to help serve The House of Hope in Port Au Prince, Haiti. Our church has closely partnered with them, as its run by family. I'm daily trying to find out the latest stories on the ground at HOH.

HOH serves about 30+ girls, a small staff, and serves as a school during the day to about 100 kids. I'm including some pics and links to folks on the ground.

Pic #1 - Damage @ House of Hope

Pic #2 - This is a huge compound next door to HOH

Pic #3 - Medical care @ HOH

Pic #4 - More medical care @ HOH
(i had the opportunity of serving w/
the gentleman administering the meds in this pic)

Pic #5 - Smiles are beautiful!

ADDITIONAL LINK #1
ADDITION LINK #2

From the stories I'm hearing: the girls were outside playing when the earthquake happened, thus avoiding much potential damage. A couple girls were injured when the security wall fell, but nothing serious. The staff is not 100% accounted for, and 1 staffer was killed. All staffers homes were lost.

Please pray for peace, strength, and safety!

Peace,
Ross

Do Something for Haiti...

Last October I had the opportunity to spend a week in Port Au Prince, Haiti. The sights will never leave me. The abject poverty is like none I've ever witnessed. Haiti is currently the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, yet only a 4 hour flight from St. Louis. That doesn't set well.

The infrastructure was already in shambles. The population didn't help matters. A city originally designed for 50,000 holds over 2 million people. You can imagine the cluster that creates!People literally lived on top of the town dumps. Piles and piles of trash were the foundations for entire villages. There's a biblical term for that - gehenna, which means "hell."

And now that gehenna has been devastated even more with yesterday's earthquake.

I imagine over the next few weeks the death tolls will rise and the diseases will get even worse. And even though it may seem a world away and overwhelming, you can make an impact now by clicking this link: HELP HAITI!

Keep Haiti in your prayers and please do whatever you can...

-Ross